


What Brings Us Closer Together

by CrazedLunatic



Series: What Brings Us Closer Together [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-05-30
Packaged: 2017-11-06 06:51:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 411,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/416002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazedLunatic/pseuds/CrazedLunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kurt is attacked, Blaine instantly leaves college to take care of him. With one decision, their entire relationship is changed and their futures reshaped. It also makes everyone around them realize just how close they really are. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Glee or anything affiliated with it. Any characters you do not recognize from the show are mine.  
> In the first few chapters, SUSPECTED rape is mentioned but an actual rape does not occur in the story.

"Look, I know you've got school and all, and I know it's like two in the morning, but this… this is important."

Blaine squinted at the phone screen, trying to make out the name. His curls were unkempt and his hazel eyes sleepy. The screen was a bright blue and stood out against the complete darkness that was the rest of the room, making it even harder for him to see the name. He wasn't even sure he was really awake because the screen went dim and there was no noise. His eyes closed and he moved to set the phone down, figuring he'd had a dream about his phone ringing.

"Blaine? Blaine, are you there?"

He tried to respond "yes" but he wasn't entirely sure it came out that way. He forced his eyes back open. This is why he didn't pull all nighters two nights in a row and then wait until midnight to go to bed on the third night.

"Look, you've got to get down here. It's Kurt. It's serious."

That woke him up. Primarily because the voice saying "It's Kurt." was definitely not his Kurt. Kurt's voice was much higher. Kurt's voice made his heart flutter. This voice was familiar, sort of, but it was of no importance and took him a few minutes to place. "Finn? What's going on?"

"It's Kurt. He's… he's in the hospital, dude. It's… It's not good." There was a sharp intake of breath. "He was attacked, dude. I don't know a whole lot. He didn't show up and—." Blaine was no longer listening to the other boy. He jumped up, tugging on his blue University of Kentucky hoodie. He yanked his pajama pants off, stumbling and almost falling over. "They think he was raped, I think."

Blaine heard that and gripped the phone so tightly he thought it might break. This time the sharp intake of breath was from him. He closed his eyes, trying to keep himself calm although he wanted to lash out and punch something. Or cry. He was incredibly overwhelmed and confused. Was this really even happening? "Is… What…?" he sputtered, not able to find his voice.

"I don't know. I just got here and they hadn't called you because Kurt's phone is broke and they didn't have your number but I did and I— Here." He heard some faint rustling.

"Sweetie, hi." Came the soothing voice of Kurt's stepmother and Finn's mother Carole. Blaine still stood frozen to the spot in the middle of his room, only one leg in a pair of jeans. "It's Carole. How are you?"

The first thing to come out of Blaine's mouth was, "What's going on?"

"Kurt's been admitted to Lima Memorial Hospital. He was attacked last night. He's stable for right now but… but it's serious. I don't want to go into details over the phone. Do you think you'd be able to come up after your classes later? We'll pay for your gas—."

Blaine grabbed his keys. "Was he raped? Finn sa—."

Carole sighed, and Blaine could picture her sending Finn an angry look and Finn sheepishly shrugging, hands buried in his jeans. "Blaine, we'll talk when you get here. He's on the first floor. If anyone asks, tell them you're his brother."

"But—."

"Sweetie, please." There was a tone of finality in the woman's voice and Blaine knew getting into an argument with Kurt's stepmother would only make things ten times worse. Besides, Kurt's family seemed to like him enough and if he started picking fights with them they might change their opinions. He was going to have to just wait.

"Fine. I'm leaving now." Blaine hung up his phone and grabbed his backpack, hands shaking. He tossed two changes of clothes, his laptop, a water bottle, his cell phone and laptop chargers, and his iPod into it along with the other school books that he didn't have enough time to take out. He ran around his apartment a full three times before he found his wallet, which was of course lying right next to his backpack the entire time.

_It's going to be okay. Calm down. Everything will be alright. If it wasn't, Carole would have sounded much more worried._

Blaine ran out to his car, a blue BMW X5 M, and started the engine. He sat the back pack in the passenger seat, the passenger seat Kurt always sat in when they were together, and pulled out of the driveway. If he hurried, as it was only two in the morning, the normal three and a half hour drive may be shortened to two hours. He could at least try.

_Please let him be okay._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This entire story will NOT center just on Kurt being in the hospital after his attack. I promise there is going to be much more to it. Also, there is one more thing that I should probably mention before anyone gets too far in this story. This story is AU, meaning it is alternate universe. It is not meant to be exactly like the television show that we all know and love. What Brings Us Closer Together is loosely based off of canon but it is not intended to be/follow canon.

It took Blaine two and a half hours to get to Lima Memorial and once he was there he instantly found his younger boyfriend's lanky stepbrother sitting outside the exit.

"What's going on?" Blaine said, half running to him. "Is he awake? How's he doing? _What happened?_ "

Finn put up his arms, eyes widening. "I don't know, man. They called me home from OU, same as I called you. We don't know a whole lot."

"Is that a _cigarette_?" Blaine said, without even registering what he was saying.

"You really are Kurt's boyfriend, aren't you?" Finn laughed as he threw the cigarette into the ash tray and put his hands in his pockets. "Don't tell mom."

He chose not to tell Finn that he wouldn't have to say anything, that Carole would be able to smell it. And that if Kurt knew, he surely would have already told Carole and Burt in an attempt to save Finn from lung problems later on in life. Kurt's name seemed to remind Blaine of why he was here and, with Finn, he went into the hospital. It didn't take the two boys very long to find the Hudson-Hummels in the disgusting orange colored waiting room that would have sent poor Kurt into a frenzy. Especially with those ugly green paintings they had plastered everywhere.

Blaine pushed his car keys into his hoodie pocket and the noise drew the attention of Kurt's parents. He hadn't thought of what to say to them, and now he could think of nothing. What could he really say? For the last three hours all he'd been able to think about was his Kurt— _his Kurt—_ being pushed into a wall or pushed into a car and raped. Or thrown down on the ground in a dirty alley and raped. Or—

Burt was the first to come over to him. He said nothing, but left the room with a nod at Blaine. He wanted Blaine to follow him, and so he did.

"Thank you for coming." He said gruffly, and Blaine was reminded of how awkward it could sometimes be around Kurt's father. His father was very nice, but it was just weird for him. Perhaps if he spent more time around Kurt and Blaine together it would have been easier for Burt. There was never any unkindness, just awkwardness occasionally.

What was Blaine supposed to say? _Don't mention it? Oh, I love getting frantic calls at three in the morning to visit my boyfriend in the hospital._ There was nothing to say, and he didn't think his voice was properly working anyway. And so the two men didn't stop walking until they reached a door. It was open and Blaine's face crumpled when he looked at the figure inside the room. He stumbled back, hand going to his mouth. The first words to escape his lips were, "Oh god, _no…_ " That wasn't Kurt, hooked up to so many machines. That wasn't Kurt's face underneath those bruises. That wasn't Kurt on that bed. It just _wasn't._ "Oh god, no… no…" he echoed, trying not to cry although his face was already screwed up against his own will.

"I wish I could tell you it looks worse than it is." Burt said, numbly. "Doctor said his ribs… some of them broke, and one punctured his lung and—"

Couldn't Burt see the horrified look on Blaine's face? He couldn't handle this. No. He didn't want to know what was wrong. Because that wasn't Kurt.

"He's got a concussion. Lots of cuts and bru—."

"Stop. Just _stop!_ " Blaine's words came out loud, and harsher than they were meant to. All he could see was Kurt's battered body. He stumbled into the room, not caring that Burt hadn't walked him in yet, not even knowing if Kurt was allowed visitors. He took the seat next to the bed, not acknowledging the fact that if Kurt was allowed visitors that was probably the chair Burt had been sitting in earlier that night. He just didn't care. He had to calm himself down— had to. He was eighteen, almost nineteen. And freaking out, although justified in this situation, would do nothing to help Kurt. _"Kurt._ "He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but it came out a quiet whimper.

Burt placed a hand on his shoulder, looking guilty for having upset Blaine. Sometimes he forgot that, even though Blaine acted very mature, he was still only a year older than Kurt and was only a young man. He should have brought Kurt's injuries up differently, more gently. He didn't know what he could possibly say to make Blaine feel better, but he leaned down and said in his ear, "H-he wasn't raped, Blaine… When he was found, all of his clothes were on. They did an exam to make sure."

This was probably supposed to reassure Blaine, and while it did feel as though a huge weight was lifted off of him, he did not feel better all of a sudden. There was still no sense that everything was going to just be okay. It wasn't going to be okay. Not any time soon. So he nodded once, grasping Kurt's small hand in his own larger one. His eyes surveyed the cuts on the back of his hand, the bruised knuckles. If he didn't look at all of Kurt and just focused on one part, it was easier. But his eyes wondered to Kurt's waist, which was bare and had nasty bruises. Then up his chest where he could see that they'd re-set his ribs, or at least he thought they had. His poor, poor Kurt. He couldn't bear to look at the tube in his mouth that was surely helping him breathe. This was just too much.

"You s-said he… what did you say was wrong?" he spoke again for the third time. He took a deep and steadying breath. Now that the shock of seeing Kurt had somewhat wore off, or at least felt more manageable, he found himself wanting to know what was wrong. Maybe it was because he was hoping that, contrary to what Burt had said, Kurt really wasn't as bad off as he looked.

Burt chose to instead tell Blaine the smaller issues first rather than the larger ones, hoping to not freak the boy out as much as he had ten minutes before. "He's got a lot of cuts and bruises that will heal alright enough… he was pushed pretty rough into a pole, so he's got a nasty bruise and a concussion. His wrist is sprained, but they think it will be fine in a few days." Burt sighed. "He's got two broken ribs, on his left side. One of the ribs punctured his lung and as soon as the surgeon comes in tomorrow morning they're going to fix it. He's pretty heavily medicated so he's not in much pain."

Blaine felt numb, wondering if holding Kurt's hand was hurting the younger boy. He gently let go of Kurt's hand, placing it on the bed. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. His mind was racing, yet he couldn't separate one thought from the other. He could not have stringed a sentence together if he tried. There was Burt's hand on his shoulder again, but Blaine should be the one comforting Burt. Yet all he could do was sit there, like a little kid, and stare at Kurt's battered body. Finally, he spoke. "I know it's not my fault but it doesn't make this any easier. Kurt is the _kindest_ and most _loving_ person there is. He doesn't deserve this. He shouldn't have to go through this. I just…" his hand motioned towards Kurt and then he shook his head. "It's just not fair…"

"The kid has been through enough, I'll admit that." Burt pulled a seat up next to Blaine's and sat beside the bed. "He'll be okay. He's strong, and we'll be here to help him. I just hope the police catch whoever did this."

Blaine knew the chances of that were slim to none. Most harassment on gays went unpunished; he knew that for a fact. Unless it was someone Kurt knew and could identify, then the person wouldn't get caught. _That's just how it is..._

* * *

Blinding pain. Kurt's face screwed up and he let out a low and long whimper, not able to focus on anything except for the little bright lights that danced before his eyes and the feeling that every time he took a breath his body was being shaken and torn in several different directions. He held his breath and the pain seemed to dull slightly.

"Shh, shh. It's okay."

Familiar fingers brushed back his hair, and that voice soothed him if only a little.

"Good. Shh. Small breaths." How he loved that voice…

_Open your eyes, Kurt. Come on. It's not that hard._

But it was that hard. His fingers flexed, hand reaching in the direction of the voice.

"You're safe. Everything is going to be okay." This voice was different, unfamiliar. The person lowered his hand. "You shouldn't move. Your body is very weak right now, after your surgery."

Kurt's blue eyes opened, but the dancing white lights didn't entirely fade from his view.

"The surgery went well. It will be a lengthy recovery." The unfamiliar voice was saying. It wasn't a bad voice, per se. He just didn't feel like hearing her speak when Blaine was so close and had such a nicer voice.

Kurt willed his eyes to look up and he saw hazel eyes looking back at him. They were worried, but the face he looked at had an incredibly forced smile.

"Oh god, do I look that bad?" Kurt's voice didn't sound like his own and for a moment he became intensely worried that he was not himself. That something had happened and somehow he'd woken up as someone else. Panic must have shown in his face because the older boy gently leaned over, slowly, and pressed his lips to Kurt's cheek.

The unfamiliar voice prattled on, but Kurt's attention was focused entirely on the boy in front of him. Why was Blaine here? Hadn't he told Kurt, just three days ago, that he wasn't going to be able to make the weekend trip down and that the next time they would see each other would be Thanksgiving Break? But that even though UK's break was just Wednesday through Friday, that he would skip Monday and Tuesday too so the boys could have some extra time together? And wasn't there some big paper due?

He wanted to ask his boyfriend, but all that he could manage to say was "Blaine?"

Blaine's face shifted, looking even more concerned. "Of course it's me, silly."

Kurt wanted to tell him that of course he knew it _was_ Blaine. That he was confused, and that he was seeing lights and that everything hurt. And also that Blaine had the prettiest eyes and that he was so glad he didn't have to wait another 5 weeks to see him. That it hurt to breathe and to talk and to even look at him. That he was confused. And everything was swimming together. That there were bright dots everywhere and the room was too white and that he felt sick. Nothing made sense and he had the feeling something bad had happened, very bad, and that he was getting scared.

"Oh Kurt, don't cry. It's okay, it's okay. You're safe now." Blaine cooed, kissing his forehead. "You're going to hurt yourself. Stop it, babe. Please."

He didn't know when he'd started crying, but it sent shocks of pain throughout his body which only made him cry more. Where were his Dad, and Carole, and Finn? Where was _he_?

"Sweetie, please. Calm down. You're safe." Blaine's voice did little to soothe him, as he had worked himself up too much for that.

"Kid, you've got to calm down."

Instantly the sobs subsided, and his dad's face swam into view. "Dad, Dad…" The tears still streamed down his pale face and he felt incredibly sticky and dirty. What was going on?

"You need to rest, build up your strength." Why did his dad look so worried, and angry? Had he found out that he and Blaine had had sex? Surely his dad expected it. Kurt was 18, Blaine was almost 19. They'd waited months. And besides, it had been three weeks ago and, and…

"I'm sorry, Dad. I'm sorry." He gasped out. He didn't want his dad to be angry at him, especially when he was so scared and confused. And Blaine's eyes were so pretty and how could he not have slept with the one person in the world who got him, knew him, loved him for everything he was and everything he wasn't?

"Kurt, don't apologize. You've done nothing wrong, kiddo. I just want you to get some rest."

Kurt nodded, swallowing. But even that hurt and he felt himself shudder involuntarily.

"I've got to talk with the doctor and get your insurance stuff taken care of, kid. But I'm right here on the other side of the bed and Blaine's got you. Okay? Is that alright?"

"Don't leave." Kurt mumbled.

"Not leaving. I'll be right here." His dad placed a kiss on his forehead and disappeared from view.

"Your eyes are so pretty." Kurt slurred when Blaine looked down at him, back in his line of view.

"So are yours." Blaine's smile was forced.

"So tired, Blaine. It hurts." His words became softer, more unintelligible with each one until they simply came out mere mumbles. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Kurt…" Blaine's fake smile disappeared all together. "Shh, get some sleep."

Kurt gave a small nod and drifted to sleep, hand gripping Blaine's.

While he slept, he had very weird dreams. He was being pushed against something and punched. Blaine was kissing him. His dad was mad and blamed him. His mom was holding his hand, telling him everything was okay. Blaine's dad was kicking Blaine and Kurt was running forward. Blaine was kissing him. Blaine was hurt and he was scared. Kurt couldn't do anything. And then Kurt's dad was punching Blaine. None of it made sense, but Kurt couldn't wake himself up despite how hard he tried.

His eyes snapped open and he let out a shocked gasp. The room was dark and he heard the hum of machines. Everything hurt. He remembered hanging up with Mercedes, after making plans to take Quinn out shopping, when three grown men yanked him. One stomped on his phone, one grabbed his messenger bag and threw it aside. He had heard the crunch of plastic and the shattering of glass as his laptop broke, but he was too concerned with struggling against the biggest man who was pushing him into a wall, punching his face and his stomach. Over and over. And over. The other two men egged the man on. The man pulled him away from the wall and Kurt sagged in relief, thinking they were done, until he was then pushed into a large wooden pole. Kurt felt a sharp pain in his side, heard a crack. The man moved back to his face, punching over and over. Blood gushed from his nose, his lip split. With one last punch to his side, there was an intense pain and then Kurt remembered white.

His hand rose up, and he realized he was holding someone's hand. He looked down and saw, on the side of his bed, Blaine's curly head buried in the mattress. Blaine was asleep, maybe. At least had his head down while he rested. Kurt slowly and carefully slid his hand out of Blaine's grasp and touched one of Blaine's curls. He expected to feel pain but instead he almost felt as if he was floating. His thoughts were lucid though. He remembered being attacked. He knew he must be in a hospital, and that he was probably on some very powerful painkillers.

"Hey kiddo."

Kurt's head turned and he saw his dad. He instantly felt a sense of relief sweep over him, or maybe safety. He let a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding out and met his father's eyes.

"How do you feel, kid?" his dad spoke quietly, as not to awaken Blaine. Kurt got the feeling his dad hadn't slept in hours. Maybe days.

"I don't feel a lot of anything." Kurt admitted, letting his hand that was touching Blaine's hair just rest on the top of his boyfriend's head, partially because he felt too weak to move it. He looked at his father, swallowing.

"It's been two days. You had surgery yesterday morning, on your lung. A rib punctured it." His dad explained, sighing. "You'll be okay. You're still young; your lung should heal completely. But the doctor says you can't move a whole lot for a while. You'll be out of school for a bit."

Kurt just nodded, too weak to say anything. The longer he was awake, the more lightheaded he began to feel.

"He's not left your side. He was there when they wheeled you to surgery and was the first one to you when they brought you to recovery. I can barely get the boy to eat."

Kurt smiled, although it hurt. His fingers ran through Blaine's curls, looking down at them.

"This is the first time he's slept, too. He drove straight through at 2 am when you were admitted."

His heart fluttered, like someone was tugging at it. He remembered Blaine had been super busy all week, pulling all nighters and only sleeping for one or two hours at a time. Despite being that tired, he'd still driven all the way to Lima. The amount of love he had for Blaine Anderson couldn't even have been put into words if he tried. Instead, he focused his thoughts on his boyfriend's hair. The curls were soft in his fingers, soft and familiar. He loved Blaine's hair when it was gelled, of course. He looked very handsome that way. But for as much as Kurt emphasized always looking your best and being dressed up with your hair done, there was something about Blaine's unkempt curls that made Kurt melt.

"Boy's going to be around a while, isn't he?" Burt asked, but it came out more like a statement. Had Burt thought they'd last forever? No. Kurt was only 18, 17 when they'd first met. But hell. The boy drove across states at 2 in the morning and hadn't left his side in two days. He had to wrap his head around the fact that this was more than a high school romance. That this boy would probably be in his family for… for forever. Surprisingly, that didn't scare Burt as much as he thought it would. Kurt was in love with this boy, and Burt was okay with that. Because he really liked Blaine. Blaine looked out for Kurt and really cared about him. It was that moment, when Blaine had said, "Sorry if I'm overstepping." and Burt had answered, "You are." that he realized that one day the two would get together. Hell, Burt had _hoped_ they would because Blaine was clearly a good kid and Kurt needed someone like that around.

"I love him." Was Kurt's response. He didn't need to say more, because those three words had more meaning than any long winded explanation of how they would be together forever.

"Get some rest, kiddo. Alright? You need it."

Kurt nodded, knowing tomorrow he wouldn't feel as calm or as good. He would probably be sore tomorrow, and talking would be more of a chore. He wouldn't feel like he was floating and he'd probably be scared after remembering his attack without the aid of drugs to calm him and ease his pain. He wasn't entirely looking forward to tomorrow, but he lowered his hand from Blaine's curls, took the older boy's hand in his own, and fell into a surprisingly peaceful sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Part One_**

Two days later, Blaine woke up in Kurt's bedroom. Burt and Carole had forced him to come to their house late the night before for a good night's sleep and Kurt, the sweet thing he is, had agreed and even given Blaine the puppy eyed look to get him to go. Blaine didn't like leaving Kurt at all, but he did need to work on the paper that he was emailing in to his Literature professor. He also needed to check his school syllabi to see when he absolutely had to be back although he was pretty sure his grades were good enough that he'd still have gotten decent grade even if he skipped a test. Unless you counted Chemistry, but whoever did good in a class like that anyway?

Blaine rubbed his eyes and looked around the room, not ready to move his head from the pillow because it smelled like Kurt. He touched the sheets slowly, remembering when Kurt had picked them out over the summer. The Hudson-Hummel's had bought a new house and Kurt got to re-decorate his room. Kurt had been so excited and dragged Blaine to several malls and home stores until he found the "perfect" this and the "perfect" that. He couldn't complain though because he loved spending time with Kurt.

The bedroom door opened and Finn stepped in. "Just wanted to see if you were awake. Kurt's being moved into a different room today and mom wanted me to give you the number before I forgot, because they don't have cell phone service in it. It's 251B."

"I'm up." Blaine hoisted himself up, mentally taking note of the number.

"Nice laptop." Finn said, looking down at his Macbook Pro.

"It's alright," Blaine stood and stretched. "Is he up? And okay? Finn, you totally reek of smoke."

"Damnit. I took a shower even." He groaned. "Mom said that he went to sleep five minutes after you left, and woke up long enough for them to switch his rooms. She said to get anything you needed to get done. So we'll leave whenever you're ready."

Right. His car was at the hospital. Still parked crooked in the same spot it had been five days ago. Or was it four? Blaine couldn't be sure. "Give me ten minutes to shower and five minutes to check something."

"Dude, it's like 9 am. He's asleep. And he probably won't be awake until 3:00. But if you're really ready in fifteen minutes, we'll go." Finn left, shaking his head and muttering something along the lines of, "I don't know why he wants to stare at him while he sleeps anyway."

Finn didn't really get it though. He'd visited Kurt, sure. And he felt bad for the boy. But he just didn't understand that Kurt was emotionally unstable. He'd been attacked by three grown men for being gay. He also knew that Kurt was injured but, because he didn't spend as much time around him, he didn't know the true extent of them. He'd had his lung punctured and operated on. The fluid in his lung wasn't clearing the way they thought it would, and Kurt had been running an off and on fever for the past 18 hours. Kurt needed someone there, even if he wasn't awake. He just needed someone to sit by him and hold his hand, that way when he did wake up and need someone, all he'd have to do is just look up and help would be there.

After taking the fastest shower known to man, Blaine sat at Kurt's desk with his laptop. It was Tuesday. He'd left Friday in the morning. He didn't have any Monday classes, so he had really only missed Friday and Tuesday so far. The literature papers were always emailed into the professor, so he had no worries there as long as he found time to work on the paper and send it in. The following Thursday night, at 8:00 PM, he had a Chemistry test and the next morning he had an Intro to Psych exam. The psych test would be easy enough but Chemistry… Well, he was going to fail that one anyway. Blaine figured that gave him about nine or ten days to stay in Lima. He would drive back down for his two tests, and drive back up the following day. He shut his laptop and put it into his bag, looking around Kurt's room. Was there anything Kurt would want? He hadn't mentioned anything, but soon he was bound to start getting bored of watching Wizards of Waverly Place reruns with Burt. Blaine was sure sick of it, now that he thought about it.

He sat, going through some of Kurt's movies and deciding which one to take. The Sound of Music was of course a must and if Blaine had showed up with movies that did not include that one, it was very likely Kurt would break up with him for sheer stupidity. He'd at least crack a snippy joke about it, and his blue eyes would light up as he laughed.

No. Kurt couldn't laugh because of his lung. And he'd really been too tired and weak to be he usual snippy self so he'd probably just have said thank you and watched whatever Blaine brought without complaint. It was kind of unsettling, really. Blaine took a deep breath—Kurt couldn't do that right now either, he thought— and peered at the DVDs but not really seeing them anymore. Random flashes of big men pushing Kurt into poles and hitting him constantly flashed into his head. He could only imagine that college junior walking up to him in that alley, screaming for her boyfriend to call 911, and crouching down next to an unconscious Kurt. Apparently Kurt had come to for a few seconds, long enough to give the girl Burt's phone number. Would that girl come to visit Kurt? She'd been clearly upset, the police had told Burt. Blaine wanted to thank her. Most people, even if they saw a body, would have simply walked past and not got involved. If she hadn't gone to check on him, Kurt could have died. _Died._

What if Blaine was here, waiting to attend Kurt's funeral?

_Stop that. Kurt's going to be fine._

No, not really. When Kurt was off the heavy duty painkillers, he'd probably start acting differently. Things would become real for him. Especially when it came time to leave the hospital. He'd get anxiety—worse anxiety, the kid could get pretty anxious on his own. Blaine didn't like to think how Kurt would handle it when Blaine had to return to Kentucky. He and Burt had already had a discussion about it. There were still four and a half weeks until Thanksgiving Break, which he would now spend exclusively with Kurt's family (not that he wanted to spend it with his own anyway), and after that another four weeks until winter break. Blaine still didn't know where he'd be staying then. How would Kurt handle those weeks without Blaine by his side? In all honestly, maybe Blaine should have spent a little less time with Kurt so he could adjust to it. But that was _not_ going to happen. Blaine hadn't wanted to spend one night away from his boyfriend. And to be honest, Kurt probably handled it better than he had. Blaine had spent the first four hours laying down but not sleeping, unable to get comfortable and trying to keep the images of Kurt being attacked out of his head.

_Stop. Don't start thinking about it again. Just get a few more movies and go see Kurt._

He sighed and returned to the DVD collection, trying to decide which ones his boyfriend would enjoy the most…

* * *

"Hey there."

Kurt really was being spoiled by seeing Blaine every time he woke up, but it didn't stop the smile that slowly slid across his sleepy and bruised face. "Hi."

Blaine leaned over, kissing him on the lips very gently so as not to hurt him. His lip was still split and looked pretty painful. "I have a surprise for you." He said cheerfully as he pulled away.

"Does it have anything to do with me being moved to a room with a better color scheme?" Kurt frowned, looking around the red and brown room. Lima Memorial really needed to look into interior decorating.

His boyfriend laughed, and this one didn't sound forced. That was good. Kurt must be looking better than he had before. "This room isn't all that bad. Don't give me that look, just because I'm not as picky as you."

"I'm not picky. You just don't have good taste. Brown and red? What compelled them to do this? And the green chairs are horren—" Kurt trailed off as the door opened. As strongly as he felt about the room, he felt like he shouldn't complain in front of the doctors and nurses that could spit in his food or "accidentally" give him the wrong medicine dosage.

"Hi Kurt. How are you feeling?" the man had red hair and was fat, but looked very cheerful. Too cheerful for someone who saw sick and injured people all day. He made Kurt feel uneasy, and he shifted uncomfortably. "Are you in pain?"

"Yeah." Kurt said, voice sounding much quieter than it had been moments before. Blaine reached forward and grabbed his hand, sensing the tension.

"Good. Now I want you to roll onto your side so I can listen to your breathing. Your brother can help if you need him to."

_This man really is an idiot, isn't he_? Kurt thought, but nodded.

Blaine stepped forward, very unsure of what he was doing. Was it really wise to lay him on his side after a surgery? Wouldn't that hurt him? He placed his hands on Kurt's shoulders and the doctor placed his hands on Kurt's waist. Kurt visibly stiffened, but his eyes met Blaine's and Blaine smiled at him.

"Were going to take this really slow, Kurt. Alright? If it hurts too much you need to let me know." The doctor said as they turned him, the doctor guiding him more than Blaine.

"How much is too much?" Kurt asked, gritting his teeth. It was definitely hurting a lot more than it was two minutes ago. He wanted to go back to lying down under his blankets, because it was definitely more pleasant than what he was feeling now. And he really wanted to know what that surprise Blaine had was too.

"Oh, you'll know… There, just hold his shoulders just like that. Good job, Kurt." There was rustling as the man put his stethoscope on. "Okay, we're going to start with small breaths and then we'll try to work our way up."

Kurt took a small breath, seeing dots dance in front of his eyes again. He winced as he felt his lungs expanding with the breath. He took deeper breaths whenever the man instructed him too, each one hurting more than the last. Blaine kept eye contact with him the entire time, and any time Kurt's attention would go elsewhere he would whisper to him until Kurt was looking at him again. Finally Blaine eased him very slowly and gently back into his laying position on his back, whispering that he'd done a wonderful job.

He relaxed against his pillows gratefully and closed his eyes. His chest felt like someone was standing on it and jumping up and down, but the pain was slowly start to subside with each breath he took. He made sure to take very small ones though, not wanting to push his luck.

Blaine brushed back some of Kurt's hair, looking in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Kurt opened his mouth to say "yes," but he couldn't get the word to form. He didn't feel okay, to be honest. He'd felt better yesterday. He really and truly had. He was glad he'd sent Blaine home to sleep because the boy looked like he felt loads better than yesterday. But Kurt hadn't slept the whole time like Carole had told Finn. He pretended to be asleep, listening to Carole and Burt talking about how Blaine would eventually have to go back to UK, even if they had to make him. How he couldn't throw his college away just to keep Kurt company because Kurt "really didn't need him here." But Kurt _did_ need Blaine here, as selfish as it was. He knew Blaine would have to go back eventually. He didn't want Blaine to throw away his college for him. Kurt had never felt more alone than when he heard his parents discussing that Blaine would have to go back eventually. It was like his heart had shattered into tiny pieces, like he couldn't breathe.

"Kurt, talk to me." Blaine was leaning close. He pressed a kiss to Kurt's cheek. "What's wrong?"

Kurt shrugged and then winced. He couldn't even _shrug._ He couldn't do something as simple as _shrug_. It wasn't fair. He hadn't done anything. To anyone. He was just walking. Just walking to his car and this is what happened.

"Kurt, Kurt, no. Don't cry, sweetheart. No. Shh. You know the doctor said it's bad for your lung."

"I don't care." Kurt gasped out through sobs.

"Please don't do this when I can't hold you." Blaine pleaded, visibly upset. "You don't know what it does to my heart."

That only made him cry more, because he really didn't deserve someone as nice as Blaine. Blaine should have been with someone better. With someone who wasn't so flamboyant that he got beat up for walking to his car. With someone who was more attractive, had a better smile. The only thing Kurt had going for him was his hair. And even that probably looked awful right now.

"Kurt, no. Don't. Calm down. Calm down." Blaine ran his calloused hand up and down Kurt's arm. "Shh, shh. It's okay. It's okay."

"Not okay." Kurt sobbed. "It's not going to be okay. Ever."

"Oh, Kurt." Blaine half sat on the edge of the bed and draped an arm over him, the most he could do without hurting the boy. "Look at me, please."

Kurt looked the other way, knowing he was being immature. His mind was telling him to calm down. That he was really being rather unreasonable and that worrying Blaine wouldn't do anything but make him feel guilty later on. Part of him liked the attention he was getting, but a bigger part of him really just needed to be held and comforted. What if Blaine didn't come back? What if he decided Kurt was too much of a baby?

The sobs got even harder. It felt like everything was closing in on him.

"Kurt, you've got to stop! You're going to hurt yourself!" There was desperation in Blaine's voice, and that was enough to put a stopper in Kurt's sobs. Tears still streamed down his pale face and the occasional sob did escape his mouth, but apart from that the room became eerily silent. Blaine uttered a relieved sigh, his hand very quickly and repeatedly running through Kurt's light hair. Blaine was nervous, he could tell. Kurt took tiny breaths and each one hurt more than it should. He could feel Blaine's eyes on him and the guilt set in, prompting a fresh batch of tears. "Kurt, if you talk you'll feel better." A shake of Kurt's head. "Please?" Another shake. "Fine, you big meanie." Blaine's head rested against Kurt's, and Kurt knew he wasn't being serious.

The tension in the room slowly disappeared and turned into an almost nice moment, with both boys sitting close together in a comfortable silence. There was the occasional sniffle from Kurt, but those were silenced with Blaine kissing his forehead or hairline. Blaine's fingers trailed up and down Kurt's arm in a soothing way, and it almost lulled the younger boy to sleep.

"What was the surprise?" Kurt hoarsely asked about ten minutes later, mainly to stop himself from dozing off. He could only imagine how awful it was for Blaine to be stuck in Lima with someone in a hospital that slept all day.

Blaine, who had began humming softly in Kurt's ear, sat up straight. He had been slouched down into an awkward half lying position, with one leg on the bed, and one leg on the floor. "I figured you were probably getting a little bored so I brought this." Kurt watched him go to his bag and pull out a laptop. Kurt was a little confused, as he really couldn't move enough to properly use a laptop. Then Blaine began pulling out several different DVDs and placing them on the bed side table on top of his laptop. "I wasn't sure what all you'd want. I got the Sound of Music, Rent, something I've never even heard of, Gypsy. Oh and of course The Wizard of Oz."

Kurt outstretched his hand quickly, without even thinking about it, but was surprised when it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. Blaine handed it to him, taking his seat back on the side of the bed. He was still digging through his bag, putting various DVDs on the other pile. Kurt looked at him, feeling himself smile a bit.

"I take it we're watching Wizard of Oz first and all, but I would totally _love_ to watch Maurice. I haven't seen it yet."

Kurt let out a gasp. "You brought My Own Private Idaho. I forgot we even owned this! River Phoenix is beyond gorgeous." His mood was very quickly changing, and he knew that the medicine he was on was probably a big factor in that. He still felt sad deep down, but he pushed it away. He wanted to have some nice quality time with Blaine now when he felt good enough to sit. He could worry about being upset later. At least, he would try.

"Are you kidding, Kurt? Keanu Reeves is ten times cuter than River Phoenix in that movie. And he has an accent."

"What else have you got in there?" Kurt slowly eased himself up more, so he could look. "How many movies did you bring, Blaine? There's like ten more still in there!"

Blaine waved his hand and tugged the remaining movies out, making a nice stack. "You know how indecisive I can be when it comes to entertainment. I was tempted to bring your entire series of Friends too, but didn't want to sacrifice any of these." Kurt rested his head on Blaine's shoulder, letting out a small sniffle. Since he was leaning up, Blaine reached his hand back behind Kurt and stroked his back gently. "Does it hurt?"

"Feels good." Kurt mumbled, his eyes closing as he felt the fingers against his bare skin. His lips parted slightly, prompting Blaine to lean over and press a kiss to his mouth. Kurt kissed back gently, slowly raising his hand to touch Blaine's face.

"Good." Blaine mumbled into his lips, continuing to stroke his boyfriend's back. Eventually he pulled away from the kiss, but didn't move his hand. "We can watch it in a little bit."

Kurt nodded into his shoulder, sniffling again. "Blaine?" His voice came out a whisper, and he felt childish. He didn't want to ruin the moment. It was becoming such a nice moment. But he couldn't help it. He knew it was wrong for him to guilt Blaine. He knew it was incredibly unfair. Blaine had done so much for him this past week, and to ask for anything else was cruel. _But he couldn't help it._

"Yeah?" Blaine looked down at Kurt as best as he could without moving the boy.

"Don't leave me." Kurt whispered. "Don't go back to Kentucky."

**_Part Two_**

"Don't leave me. Don't go back to Kentucky." Kurt sniffed, looking at Blaine with big blue eyes. He leaned his forehead against Blaine's. "Please."

Blaine was silent, his breath caught in his throat and his heart in his stomach. His mouth opened a few times, but no words came out. He was in shock. That was the last thing he expected to come out of Kurt's mouth and, knowing he didn't have to be back for at least nine days, he hadn't even been thinking about it. Nothing was farther from his mind then Kentucky.

"Please." Kurt scooted closer. "Please. I need you here and I've never asked you for anything and I know i-it's childish but I really w-w-want you here, Blaine."

"K-Kurt… I have two exams at the end of next week. A-and finals in December." That wasn't what he wanted to say, but Blaine's mind wasn't functioning properly. He wouldn't have been surprised if he'd said something about flying elephants, to be honest.

Kurt began to cry, his face screwing up. "I don't want to be here all alone. I w-want you with m-me. You'll t-t-take care of me."

"All alone? Y-your dad and Carole are here. They can take care of you." No! That wasn't what he meant to say either! Why was this stuff just spilling out of his mouth? Blaine was not good when put on the spot like this.

"I need you here. I-I'll do anything, Blaine." Tears streamed down Kurt's face. " _Please_."

Blaine's arms wrapped around Kurt, the first hug they'd had since he'd last left for Kentucky. He was very, very careful not to get anywhere near his bandages and barely touched him, but nonetheless he wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed the top of his head. Before he even knew what he was going to say, the words were out of his mouth. "I'm not going anywhere, Kurt. I won't go back."

Kurt's scraped hand clenched his shirt tightly, bruised knuckles making Blaine cringe. Kurt let out a sob into Blaine's chest, and then another, and then three more.

"Shh, I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving, honey. It's going to be okay." Blaine could hear the angry phone call from his mother, hear his father's cussing in the background about how they never should have sent him to "that gay school." He could just imagine his grandmother's shame when she went into the store or office and someone asked her how Blaine liked UK and she replied, "Oh, he dropped out." It just didn't matter though. Not then, at least.

He knew he should have made some compromise with Kurt. He should have promised to only go down for tests. But college… he didn't care what people said. At least in his classes you couldn't not go to class, just show up for tests, and still get good grades. He should have told him, "I'm sorry, Kurt. My parents paid for it. I have to go." But what had his parents ever done for him? His dad spent half his life constantly trying to make him straight—rebuilding cars with him, sending him to religious camps "to cure him" five summers in a row. Five! His mother was no better because she just let his father do it. The only reason they agreed to let him go to Dalton, he was convinced, was so that "his condition" didn't hurt his grandmother's campaign for mayor.

Kurt was still sobbing into his chest, clutching his t-shirt so tightly that one of the scrapes on his hand had begun to bleed again. "Thank you, thank you." He cried over and over. "Thank you s-so much, Blaine. Thank you."

"No, don't thank me." Blaine whispered, his stomach in knots. "Hush now and lay back."

Kurt was not having that. He scooted closer, winced a bit, and then resolved to pull Blaine down to him. His arms wrapped around Blaine's neck and all Blaine could think was that Kurt was going to hurt himself but he couldn't bring himself to move out of the smaller boy's grasp. "Thank you, Blaine." Kurt was still crying, but now he was whispering into Blaine's ear instead of sobbing into his chest. Blaine could feel the tears on Kurt's wet cheek.

The door opened and both boys looked up. Burt stood in the doorway, looking very uncomfortable and confused. He mouthed wordlessly, and Kurt just buried his face in Blaine's neck and started to cry again.

"What's going on? Did something happen?" Burt found his voice, and spoke urgently and in a gruff voice. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

Kurt merely shook his head, tugging Blaine even closer. Blaine was pulled down at an odd angle, hurting his back and straining his neck. He didn't have the heart to move though, especially when it had been so long since he'd been so close to his boyfriend.

"Shh, shh." Blaine whispered, eyes meeting Burt's. Burt mouthed 'What?' but Blaine couldn't answer, because he was too busy whispering soothingly to Kurt and he didn't know what he'd say anyway. Things were not going as planned, despite the talk he and Burt had had the night before in which Burt had told Blaine he would have to get thick skin and not get upset when Kurt got angry at him for going back to school.

No, the talk yesterday had been entirely pointless at this point, because Blaine simply couldn't tell Kurt "no." It had been a particularly long discussion in which Burt had told him how, after Kurt's tenth birthday, Kurt had refused to talk to him for an entire three weeks because he wouldn't buy a red velvet cake with roses painted on it because it was "too girly." And the time that the local theater put on The Sound of Music and Burt wouldn't let Kurt go with his aunt because he didn't want to see his own mother, who would of course come with his sister. Kurt had kept his stony silence up for that one until Burt had promised to buy him a new wardrobe and to let him go see Rent at midnight upon its release. His son had been eleven or twelve at the time, but he'd have rather sit through that musical movie than live in a silent house for another day. Kurt was the queen of throwing fits, and he knew how to work people to get his way.

It seemed to take an eternity for Kurt to wear himself out and fall limp in Blaine's arms. Blaine eased him down carefully and positioned him comfortably against the pillows, thankful for the opportunity to sit up straight. Instead of looking up at Burt, he straightened Kurt's blanket and began to stack the DVDs in alphabetical order. He found himself intimidated by his boyfriend's father and he childishly wished that he could just disappear. The idea of Burt confronting him about anything scared the crap out of Blaine, to be honest.

"I want to know what's going on." Burt finally said. "So why don't you stop organizing those movies and talk to me."

Blaine nodded and got off of the bed, moving to sit in one of the seats. This wasn't going to go well. He didn't want Burt to be mad at him, and more especially he didn't want him mad at Kurt. He had to stop acting like a kid and quit stalling. He took a deep breath and said, "Kurt… has asked me to stay in Ohio."

"And what did you tell him?" Burt asked slowly.

Blaine sat up straighter, making eye contact with the man. "I told him I would stay."

It was hard to read Burt's face. For a second it looked like he was relieved, then angry, then maybe happy, and then angry again? The man let out a sigh. "Why would you do that, Blaine? You've got to finish school."

"You're going to need someone to take care of Kurt when he's out of the hospital." Blaine said very quickly, thinking off of the top of his head. He was incredibly nervous and surprised his words were coming out in a coherent way. "You've got the garage, and Carole's got work. Finn's in his first semester at OU—."

"And you are in your first semester at UK." Burt cut in. "College isn't some part time job that you can just throw away."

Blaine rose his hands up, as if in self defense. "First, I'm not throwing anything away. I can always go back to school next year. Second, who exactly do you think will take care of him when you and Carole are at work? Theoretically Finn could live at home and watch him when you're not at work but, and I'm sorry to say this, I don't think Finn could quite handle it. I had to show him how to use the microwave last night. Third, I'm not going to leave Kurt alone like this. He needs someone here for him."

"That is why he has his family."

"Yeah well he's _my_ family." The words were out before he could take them back. He hadn't known they were coming and even his own eyes widened.

Burt coughed a bit and looked away, to Kurt, and then sighed. "We'll come up with some kind of compromise. You go back for your exams, stay with us over winter break."

"What part of he's going to need to be taken care of do you not understand?" This was not going well. Blaine was becoming frustrated with his boyfriend's father and saying things he would never say under normal circumstances. "He's going to get out of here in maybe less than a week and you can't tell me you're prepared to just drop work at the garage to care for him full time. Carole works full days as a receptionist. Neither of you can just put your jobs on hold. I can go back to school next year. It's not that big of a deal."

Burt rubbed his temple, looking at Kurt. "It is a big deal, kid. College is important. How do you expect to ever be able to support yourself without it?"

"I'll get a night job. And get an apartment close by. I've got some money saved up until I can find a job. I can start applying right now. Online applications." Blaine was still talking incredibly fast, coming up with answers off the top of his head. He gestured to his laptop on the bedside table. The more he talked about it, though, he become surer that he was doing the right thing.

"Hold on now, hold on." Burt put his own hands up this time and began pacing. He sighed several times, would stop mid step, only to start pacing again and then repeat the process. "It wasn't right of Kurt to ask this of you." Blaine moved to open his mouth, but Burt cut him off. "Let me finish, kid. It wasn't right. And I sure as hell don't think you should just drop school at the drop of a hat because it's important and it's expensive… if Kurt did something like this, I would be furious." Great, pull the parent card. Blaine swallowed a bit. "Do you realize what kind of message you're sending, dropping out of school to take care of Kurt?"

"Taking a break." Blaine corrected, somewhat nervously. "And I don't intend to send out any messages. I just want to be here for him."

"You're not even nineteen yet, kid. This isn't your responsibility. It's mine and his stepmother's job to take care of him. Your job is to finish school and get into graduate school and become something. The same as Kurt's job will be."

"I'm not a child! Sir—." Blaine started, but was cut off mid-sentence.

"Next semester I want you to take classes at the community college. Take them online or whatever, but take them. You take the classes and you can—you can stay with us. You won't need to worry about a job or money."

Blaine listened to the man very carefully, maintaining eye contact to show he was serious about this.

"This thing you're doing here though… it's serious. Serious as a heart attack, and I know about those. You make a commitment like this to Kurt, you drop everything to come to him… that stands for something, you see? That's a grown up decision. One that you need to be sure you're ready to make. You can't, for lack of better words, half-ass things with my son. Do you understand? If you are willing to leave school to care for him, you need to be willing to stay with him. For a very, very long time. Big decisions like this can't be made lightly because Kurt's got a big heart. And big hearts like that, when they get broken, they're hard to fix. You see what I'm saying?"

Blaine felt very tense, as if his every move was being watched. He scratched his knee as he nodded. Burt's looks made him incredibly nervous. "Sir… I love Kurt. If I didn't think we had a chance at being together forever, then I wouldn't be doing this. He is _all_ I think about in Kentucky. Why do you think I drive 4 hours every weekend I possibly can to see him, even if it's only for just a few hours? It's because I want to be with him. I don't have any intentions to… Uh… half-ass things with him. I intend to go back to school—back to the university—next fall. A-and yeah, I'll take community college classes next semester. I want to get a job and… and support him one day."

Burt nodded, a blank expression on his face.

"I want to be here for him. I can always go back to school, sir. Right now he needs me."

"Fine." Burt walked towards him. "I'll talk to Carole tonight and see how she feels about this when she gets here." His hand reached out and patted Blaine's shoulder, and then he spoke quietly. "You're a good kid. I feel better about this whole thing, knowing Kurt's in good hands. I hate that I keep having to run to work to get stuff squared away at the garage… but…" He didn't finish his sentence. He gave Blaine's shoulder a big squeeze and then headed out the door for a walk.

Blaine let out a huge sigh and rubbed his face. "Why do I feel like I just asked for permission to marry Kurt?" he wondered aloud, then wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. If just talking about leaving school to care for Kurt was that hard, he didn't even want to think how hard it would be when he finally did ask for permission to propose to Kurt. Every word he had said was true, though. He really did want to be able to support Kurt one day.

Kurt was a bright person and Blaine knew he would be more than capable enough to support himself, but Blaine wanted to _deserve_ to be with someone as special as Kurt. Having the opportunity to live alone with Kurt, to support him, to put dinner on the table… is that what straight men thought about their girlfriends? He leaned over, running his finger along Kurt's open palm. Kurt's fingers flexed and his hand moved closer to the touch. Blaine gripped his hand tightly, trying to push away the sudden dread he began to feel. He wasn't so much dreading that he had essentially confessed his undying love for Kurt to his father. Or even that he was dropping out—no, taking a break— from school. He liked UK and he had met several great people; he definitely would not protest going back next fall when Kurt was better. The students were nice, the professors were lazy but nice enough as well.

He dreaded when his parents found out. That's what he dreaded. He hadn't talked to his father since he was fifteen and rarely talked to his mother. His father hadn't even wanted to pay for Blaine to go to college but Blaine's grandmother had forced him to. While she didn't approve of Blaine's "ways", Blaine was still her son's child and that meant her son had to care for Blaine. She had gone to great lengths to cover up Blaine's "ways" during her election, though, and Blaine still felt animosity towards her even if it was because of her that he was able to go to UK. His mother… His mother just made him sick to his stomach. She always called, sent cheerful text messages. Blaine never really answered them. She told him it was okay that he was gay, that it was "just an illness like depression or cancer." But she "loved him anyway, because he was her son." It made Blaine sick every time he thought about her because she put on such a front about caring for her son, how Blaine's father should treat him better. Yet she let Blaine be sent to that gay camp five years in a row.

Five summers he had to listen to some crackpot minister reading from the bible about sins and what happened to sinners. Five summers he had to sleep in a room with three other gay teenagers and to be honest, Blaine was probably the only one there who hadn't fooled around with everyone he met. Not until he hit fifteen and became angrier and that's when he began "acting out" his pain by having sex. Lots and lots of sex with lots and lots of people he hardly knew. Just because he was there, stuck in that place—and it really was a terrible place. He faced countless weeks hearing how he would go to hell if he didn't change his "ways." The last few weeks of his fourth summer there, when he was fifteen, were not the best moments of his life and he was lucky he hadn't contracted any STDs.

But that call. He knew it was coming. That call from his mother, sobbing and asking why he was such a disappointment. Or would his father break his stony silence and call? Well that would go awesome, wouldn't it? Maybe they'd have his grandmother call. Or maybe they'd just empty his bank account and never say anything to him again. That, realistically, was very likely to happen. His father would be of the opinion that the money was "owed to him."

"Yeah, I've got to go get a new bank account." Blaine muttered quietly to himself. His father would do exactly that. It wouldn't matter that the money was Blaine's. Blaine was gay, but he wasn't gay enough to go out and sing and dance in front of people at theme parks because he thought it was enjoyable. He enjoyed singing and dancing, but he just felt silly when he performed in front of theme parks like that. The girls were usually all into it but him… Not so much. Either way, that money was his. He had earned it on his own and he didn't want his father touching it.

There was also several other stuff he knew he would have to do too, but he had no clue where to even begin. He knew he'd have to do something about withdrawing at UK and he was pretty sure he'd missed the deadline for withdrawing and receiving more than half of his money back, but that didn't really bother him all that much. How did he get out of a lease for his apartment? Hell, how was he going to get the things in his apartment and where would he put them? The actual emptying of his apartment would take two trips, despite having a bigger car. When he'd moved down, Kurt had followed him down with a load so Blaine wouldn't have to make two trips. That wasn't exactly an option right now. So he would likely be driving to and from Kentucky twice in one day.

At least, he thought, Burt had offered to let him stay with them. That was going to be so awkward though. Would he stay in Kurt's room? No, surely not. Finn's, because Finn lived on campus? That would just be weird to stay in Kurt's straight stepbrother's room. Blaine suddenly felt like he was almost 29 instead of almost 19. He was not looking forward to this. Not at all.

_It's for Kurt._


	4. Chapter 4

After Kurt had awoken the previous day he, his farther, Carole, and Blaine had all had a discussion about Blaine moving to Ohio. Carole had been ecstatic that Blaine was moving back to help out and had almost immediately set off to go home and clean out the guest room, which she made sure to add was right next to Kurt's room. Burt didn't look very thrilled after hearing this, but said nothing. Regardless of any awkwardness, Burt had stayed the entire night with the boys. The three of them stayed up late into the night watching The Sound of Music ("That one again?"), Rent ("Do we have to?"), The Wizard of Oz ("You've got every word memorized. What's the point?"), and they finished off with watching several episodes of Teen Mom ("You have _got_ to be kidding me, Kurt. There is a football game on the next channel and you're going to make me watch re-runs of _this_?").

Blaine fell asleep half way through the second episode of Teen Mom, after muttering, "Wake me up if he decides to put it on the Buckeyes game." Burt's attention went in and out of watching the show, but he mostly thought about his earlier discussion with Blaine. He liked the kid. He _really_ liked the kid. The way he literally dropped everything to rush to Kurt's side showed how much he cared for his son. "He's a good kid."

Kurt looked up from Teen Mom, wincing slightly at the quick movement. "Huh?"

Burt gestured at Blaine who was curled up in a small chair, legs tucked underneath him and head lolling on his shoulder. He took deep even breaths as he slept on, one arm relaxed over his waist and the other on the arm rest. "Blaine… He's a real good kid, Kurt."

"I know." Kurt's eyes met his fathers and he leaned back into his pillows. "He's got a big heart, Dad. He's like my super hero. Only his wardrobe is considerably better than any comic book hero I've ever seen." He turned to look at Blaine, smiling a bit. He really did have the most adorable boyfriend in the world.

"Super hero, huh, kiddo?" Burt laughed a bit. He didn't know how to tell Kurt what he wanted to say. That he was so glad Kurt had finally found someone like this. More than being uncomfortable with the fact that Kurt was gay, there had always been a part of Burt that worried his son would never find someone. That he would have to go through life without love. Blaine had cared for Kurt even before they dated though. Why else would he have tracked Burt down, blatantly overstepping his boundaries, and told him that Kurt needed "the talk?" Burt had a hunch that Blaine had loved his son even then; Blaine just hadn't known it yet. Burt got that, too. Love wasn't always at first sight and the fact that they were friends first, Burt hoped, would mean that they would last longer and have a healthier relationship. That was one thing that Burt regretted after marrying Kurt's mother. He loved Kurt's mom more than anything but they hadn't been friends before they had dated. That kind of friendship that merged into a relationship would have made a lot of awkwardness at first disappear.

There seemed to be no awkwardness or unsureness between Kurt and Blaine. That much was very obvious. There was maybe some awkwardness on Burt's part whenever Blaine pulled up outside the house on a Saturday morning and Kurt ran out, threw his arms around him, cried out happily, and the two kissed. Burt would avert his eyes very quickly when Blaine came into the house holding hands with his son and mutter a quick, "Hello." Blaine was always very courteous around Kurt's family and always had the silly smile on his face as Kurt could crack jokes about "gay stuff" that Burt would never fully understand.

The differences in the boys amazed him, as well. Kurt hated sports. Blaine loved college football, especially the Buckeyes¸ and he had played soccer at Dalton for three years. He had apparently been scouted by UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and Duke but Blaine had turned their scholarship offers down to "stay closer to home." Burt had a feeling Kurt had been a bigger decision breaker than Blaine would probably ever admit. Kurt spent his down time reading Vogue Magazine and shopping. Blaine read a lot of books and ran laps. Kurt watched movies, Blaine shot hoops. Kurt hated junk food and Blaine had, on more than one occasion, downed more than one bag of Cool Ranch Doritos with Finn while the two watched TV. Usually the shows that warranted Doritos eating did not interest Kurt, so he would make a little "hmph" noise and curl up at Blaine's side, opening the latest issue of Vogue that he'd already read three times and making comments like, "Look at how cute he is. And he's got _straight_ hair." This would result in one of three things: Blaine either tickling his side, playfully hitting him upside the head, or very cheerfully stating that he would go to a salon the next day and have his hair relaxed. That last one always shut Kurt up really fast.

They weren't entirely opposites though. Carole often joked how, when Blaine would arrive from Kentucky early in the morning, he would always be dressed similarly to Kurt. Their clothes often matched. Or how, the longer they were together, their laughs began to sound the same. Both boys had similar tastes in cars. Obviously they both loved singing and performing. Both boys would look at each other when the other was looking away, a little smile on their faces.

It was very strange for Burt to witness these stolen glances between Blaine and Kurt. Kurt's eyes would light up with excitement, the same type of excitement he got when he first saw The Nutcracker when he was little. His entire demeanor changed when his boyfriend was around. He was more comfortable with himself, he was _happy_. Burt knew that for a long time Kurt had not had friends, and he knew that Kurt got picked on a lot of McKinley before he'd transferred to Dalton. After being in Dalton, Kurt carried himself a little taller. It wasn't so much that Kurt had actually changed. He was just more confident in himself. Burt was damn sure Blaine had a lot to do with that, also. Kurt was a little louder around Blaine and he was a lot happier. His smiles never appeared forced. When Blaine would look at Kurt, it was evident he was in love. His eyes would linger over Kurt's light and always styled hair, his blue eyes, his nose. You could see the need to protect Kurt. Whenever Kurt was upset, he'd reach over and just hold his hand. Something as simple as hand holding, but it really meant something to Kurt. Burt had seen Kurt almost trip on Finn's shoes more than once (it was a common occurrence) and Blaine reach out to grab him before he fell, or dart his arm out in front of the boy before he could fall and laugh that he was "so clumsy."

Hell, Burt didn't know whether to be upset or happy for his son. Life was going to be so much harder for Kurt simply because he was gay. He wanted his son to lead a normal life, but who was he kidding? Kurt, who had asked for a pair of "sensible heels" for his birthday as a toddler, had _never_ been normal. He'd been compassionate, kind hearted, sweet, understanding, shy. But he had never been normal. Here was someone that embraced Kurt for the young man he was. A young gay man, but still every bit a man as Burt was. Maybe even more so because Kurt accepted himself and had the courage to be himself. If Burt had been gay, he would not be as confident and sure of himself as his son was. Blaine loved his son and it was painfully obvious when the younger man's face had crumbled and he'd stumbled into that hospital room, took a seat by the bed, and so carefully picked up Kurt's hand. How he'd driven up at two in the morning, made it to the hospital at four, and had stayed with Kurt almost every waking minute since then.

Their love scared Burt. He didn't like to think that this time next year Kurt may be living alone with Blaine. Kurt was eighteen, though. He was a young adult, albeit a sometimes immature one. He made good decisions for the most part and, despite the fact that he was a bit of a drama queen, he never acted reckless. Burt was glad he'd found someone but he couldn't help but feel like Kurt would go off to college and never return. His son had big dreams and Burt knew he had the brains to achieve each and every one of them. Maybe it wouldn't have felt as bad if Kurt went on his own, had to stumble around a few times before he made it. At least Burt wouldn't have felt as if his role was being replaced.

It was silly, wasn't it? When Kurt was twelve and getting picked on in middle school, Kurt never told his father. But Burt knew. How could he not know? Kurt would cry in his room as he watched The Sound of Music. He would fall asleep listening to sad soundtracks. Kurt wasn't tall and he had this way about him… Burt didn't want to say he _looked gay_ because Kurt had always said that comment was "beyond prejudiced and immoral, Dad" but there was no other way to put it. Burt had known Kurt would begin to have trouble in school when the other boys started getting tall, getting muscles, and Kurt continued to watch musicals and sing loudly with the radio. Kurt generally performed to sing female parts, as well. Kurt maintained his sweet face with big blue eyes. His hands remained small and almost feminine. Most boys would take five minutes to pick out one pair of jeans and buy five pairs, and five t-shirts for school. Kurt would spend hours going to each store and perfectly putting together outfits.

But when Kurt was getting picked on, he would cry. He had no friends, no one to talk to. Burt knew that he should have confronted Kurt about his sexuality, but how did you _do_ that? And what if, by some chance, he had been wrong? How did you go up to your son, who you held as a baby and imagined getting married to a woman in 25 years, and ask if he was attracted to men? If his mother had been here… she'd have handled it. Kurt would have told her. Burt was not good with this stuff. So he tried to not hear Kurt's sniffles late at night and he tried to ignore the horrible forced smiles he would wear when he got off the bus. He let Kurt help out around the garage on the weekends so he didn't feel so lonely. He went with Kurt to the shows and the musicals, wanting to make his son happy. Kurt enjoyed the shows and musicals, but… but it was never quite enough because Kurt would still come home upset and lock himself in his room for hours playing that same old song over and over. It hurt Burt and he felt powerless. He felt like there was nothing he could do to help his child, and it tore him up inside.

Burt didn't know what to do, how to help. He knew his sister was gay but he hadn't treated her well. He'd been exactly how Finn had been to Kurt that one night he and Carole had almost broken up, calling her a dyke every chance he got. Telling their parents she had a girlfriend. Making terrible jokes with his football friends. Letting people bully her in school and treat her like crap. Kind of liking that they did it, because what she was "doing" was wrong. How could he then go to her, several years later, and ask for help? Say that Kurt was… Kurt was like her. And he was so sorry that he'd treated his sister that way. That he didn't know anything back then, but now… now he knew it all. He knew how dumb he'd been because he looked at his son and suddenly it didn't matter what he was "doing." He wasn't "doing" anything and it most certainly wasn't wrong because this was his only child, his baby. And his son had made him realize how stupid and prejudiced he'd been all those years. No, he didn't have the guts to do that because he hated to think that he had been that person. These kids were doing to his son what he'd done to his own older sister.

When Kurt was three and started acting… well, girly… Burt had not handled it very well. When Kurt turned five he signed Kurt up for football, baseball, and soccer teams. Wrestling. Karate. Kurt would always cry on the way to each one but Burt would tell him, "This one. I know you'll like this one, Kurt." Because there had to be something for boys that Kurt liked. His son just hadn't found it yet and once he found the sport he liked, everything would fall into place and Burt would be able to prove that his son wasn't… "that way." Burt never told Elizabeth, Kurt's mother, where he always took Kurt and he told Kurt that it was "their secret." When Elizabeth finally found out, she had been _furious_. Elizabeth had always been the better parent. She would sing and dance with Kurt, bake with him, take him to piano lessons. She played dress up with him and even let Kurt toddle around in her heels. That had made Burt furious. "You're trying to turn our son gay!" he had accused.

"Kurt enjoys singing and dancing, Burt. He likes to play dress up."

"He should dress up in his father's shoes, not his mother's."

"I'm sorry to inform you," She had harshly whispered, "that your son doesn't want to dress up in his father's shoes and right now I can't say I blame him. You've been dragging him to stuff he hates for months, Burt! You knew it was wrong and that's why you didn't tell me! You act like this now, what's going to happen when he's 13 and wants to come out? He'll be too afraid that you'll not accept him… will he be right?"

"Kurt's not gay! He's only five!" It was hard to control his voice. He'd never before said it out loud, he had just thought it to himself when he was alone.

"You're not taking Kurt back to that karate class, Burt. You have got to start accepting him in your heart now or you'll never be able to accept him in ten years when he needs it the most."

How had Elizabeth been so smart this whole time? How had she been able to soothe Kurt's tears just by rocking him and singing that sad song that Kurt liked to play on repeat? How had she always known the right thing to say, when Burt didn't know where to begin? This must have been why his sister adored Elizabeth so much. They often talked on the phone, at least once a week if not more. Kurt would follow her around as she cleaned and talked on the phone, holding onto her leg and adding in insightful random comments whenever he felt he could.

And how, the real question was, did Kurt ever manage to find someone that eased his pain the way his mother had? He had found, in Blaine, someone to dance and sing with. Someone to bake with. Someone to cry to when he was upset, someone who knew exactly what to say to cheer Kurt up. Blaine knew how to play piano and would occasionally play a few notes of a familiar song, making a big smile appear on Kurt's face. Sometimes Kurt would begin to sing the words, or sometimes he would just sit on the bench next to him, lay his head on his shoulder, and watch his hands as he played. If Kurt stormed into the house after school upset and slammed his bedroom door shut, you could expect one minute later a sniffle or sob or groan of frustration, and five minutes later cheerful chattering or even laughing coming from behind the door. That always meant he was on the phone with Blaine. How did Blaine do it? Something that Burt struggled for years to do and had never really succeeded, and Blaine just waltzed into the picture and was able to… do it. How did someone who had only known Kurt for a little over a year understand his son more than Burt had when Burt had been living with him his entire _life_? It made Burt feel insignificant. It made him feel like a terrible parent.

Carole told him he was being silly and he knew it was true. Blaine couldn't replace his role in Kurt's life. And Burt was not a bad father. He was a very good father. He and Kurt had a good relationship. Blaine had even commented on it when in his garage that day. He was being silly, because nothing could take his son away from him.

"So… you, uh… he treats you well, right?"

Kurt was looking at his father, his head tilted to the side. He held his head up, and the nodded. "Very well, dad. He's a perfect gentlemen. Always."

"You said you loved him the other day, Kurt. I knew it was serious… and I just… I guess I'm trying to come to terms with all of this. It's a little strange for me, kid. I still picture you being four years old and parading around in your mom's shoes."

"Oh God." Kurt put his hands over his face after another quick look to make sure Blaine was fast asleep. The latter boy was of course, although he did shift slightly. "Please, Dad. This is embarrassing."

"You're a grown up now, Kurt. And you're going through some terrible things right now and they're going to get worse before they get better." Burt said slowly.

"I just want to sleep." His son was shrinking down into the bed. "I'm tired."

"You've got just a few more days in here, kid. When you come home it's going to be a lot different and I just… I just want to make sure you know that it's going to be harder." He leaned over, brushing Kurt's hair back. "You won't be on as good of painkillers. You'll be sore, and you'll start remembering things…"

"Dad…"

"Kurt, you have to know that this isn't going to be something you can keep inside because if you do… it'll eat you alive. It's going to be very hard. But you've got me, Carole, and Finn…" he paused briefly. "And Blaine. There are at least four people who you can talk to. Please utilize that because if you don't, things will be so much harder on you… so much harder."

Kurt swallowed. He remembered what happened. He just told people he didn't because he didn't want to talk about it. He felt bad for lying but thinking about it made him feel small and inferior. It made his insides run cold. He didn't think he could handle talking about it.

"I want you to press charges, Kurt. When you remember, I want you to talk to someone. You can come to me if you want, or you can go to Blaine. But I want you to talk to someone. Then that someone will take you down to the police station so you can file a report. I want whoever did this to you to pay."

Kurt swallowed again, looking out the window. Away from his dad and away from Blaine.

"You almost _died_ , kiddo. This is _not_ okay." Burt said in a firm but gentle voice. "You've got to go after the sick person that did this to you."

Kurt's face screwed up, his lip starting to tremble.

"I don't care who you are or what choice you made or didn't make. Nobody has the right to do this to you. Do you hear me?"

Kurt just let out a choked sob, wanting his dad to stop talking. He didn't want to think about this now. That's why he didn't bring it up. He reached for the little button that let him dispense his pain medicine.

"No." Burt took it away. "That medicine is for this and this." He pointed to Kurt's arm and chest. "Not for this." He pointed to his head.

"But my head hurts." His voice came out a little squeak.

"What are you so afraid of, Kurt? You've always been so proud of who you are. You've always stood up for what was right."

"Who I was hadn't gotten me almost killed before last week, though, had it?" Kurt's voice rose, and Blaine's eyes snapped open and he sat up straight, rubbing his face. "No. It hadn't. Before I could walk to my car and not get attacked. If the police find them, they could come back and try to finish what they started."

"If you don't have the police find them, they could do that too! You can't be a child about this because this is your life! You had no problem getting help and going to Dalton when things at McKinley got bad. Why can't you go to the police now?"

"Because it won't make a _difference_ , Dad!" Kurt's voice had risen even more. Blaine was glued to his seat, staring. He didn't know what to say and most definitely didn't want to get involved. Not yet, at least. "It won't make a difference because I'm _gay_ , Dad! Nobody cares what creeps do to a _fag_!"

"Don't you use that language! Don't you dare, Kurt!" Burt's voice rose too. "People care. I care, Carole cares. These doctors care. Your teachers care. Your friends care! Blaine cares!" he pointed to Blaine, who shifted uncomfortably as Kurt's eyes fell on him.

"It doesn't matter."

"Are you going to tell me that this boy is dropping out of school to take care of you, drove three hours in the middle of the night to see you, has barely slept, has barely eaten, and that his feelings don't matter?" Burt said slowly.

"That's not what I meant, dad! You're twisting my words and you don't understand!" Kurt let out a choked sob, gripping his sheets. "You don't understand what it's like to h-h-have this stuff happen a-and nobody notice."

"That's what you meant, Kurt, because it's what you said. If you think his opinion doesn't matter, then you look him in the face and tell him to go back to school because you know as well as I do that that is where he belongs. You had no right asking him to move back, especially if you're going to act like his thoughts don't matter!"

The sobs were harder now, and Kurt gasped for breath. "You're t-t-twisting my words! Stop it!"

Blaine jumped up and rushed over, sitting on the side of the bed and wrapping his arms around Kurt. "Shh, shh. It's okay. Come here, sweetie."

Kurt scooted closer, head burrowing in Blaine's neck. He helplessly cried for several long minutes. Burt angrily glared out the window, not knowing how to handle this. Why was Kurt acting this way? Burt was just trying to help. Blaine just looked straight ahead, whispering sweet nothings in Kurt's ear and kissing his face.

"That's not what I m-m-meant! It's not what I m-meant!" Kurt sobbed helplessly.

"It's okay, it's okay. I know that's not what you meant, Kurt. I know." Blaine rocked him slowly and gently. "I know, honey. I know exactly what you meant."

Burt looked up at that.

"You do?" Kurt sniffed, looking at him.

"Of course I do, silly." Blaine smiled at Kurt. Kurt was in the middle of sending his dad a 'See, I told you' look when Blaine continued. "It doesn't, however, mean I agree with you."

Burt grunted.

"What Kurt is trying to say is that even though his family and friends care, that other people don't." Blaine explained quietly. "But that isn't true, Kurt. I cared before I was your friend. And there are several other people who don't even know you that would and do care. Why do you think there are so many gay rights activists out there? Because stuff like this happens a lot and they care and want to stop it."

Kurt sniffed, looking down.

"People can't stop this if you don't help them, Kurt. And your dad is right. You said that if you told the police they may come back to finish what they started… but you don't know that they won't do that anyway. The most important thing is your safety."

"Y-you think I should pr-press charges?" Kurt let out a watery hiccough.

"I think that I would if I was you… but I'll support you either way." Blaine answered carefully and quietly. Kurt began to cry into Blaine's shoulder again and Blaine ran his fingers through Kurt's messy hair. "I know you're scared. I'm scared too. But you're not alone, and everything is going to be okay. I won't let anything happen to you as long as I'm here. Okay? No one will ever lay a hand on you again."

"I don't know who it was." Kurt gasped out through his sobs. "I d-didn't know them. T-they just j-j-jumped me when I was w-walking to m-my car!"

"Did you see them?" Blaine asked softly. "Did you recognize them from anywhere?"

He shook his head, face red and puffy. "I d-don't think s-so. T-they were r-r-really tall and s-strong. T-t-the first one g-grabbed m-my b-bag and pulled me bac-back as I was g-grabbing my keys."

"How many were there, Kurt?" Burt asked. "You said the first one."

"T-three I think. B-because… because…" His breaths came out in short gasps now and his hands were shaking. He closed his eyes. "Because the f-first guy g-grabbed my bag and t-threw it at a bigger guy. A-and another one grabbed my phone—."

"You were on it?"

"No, I'd just got off it. H-he grabbed it and I screamed for him to stop, so he threw it down and stomped on it. T-Then the g-guy with my bag threw it down and m-my laptop broke and the two were just l-laughing and saying something."

"What were they saying?"

"I don't know! T-the one kept saying, 'Teach him a lesson!' and the other guy was just… he was just talking, I don't know!" Kurt's voice was very high and hysterical.

Blaine rubbed Kurt's shoulder gently. "Calm down. Shh. It's alright. Take your time, Kurt. Catch your breath. Let's take a little break?"

Kurt shook his head quickly. "He k-kept saying 'Teach him a lesson! He's a _f-f-faggot_ , teach him a lesson!' and I tried to g-get away but the b-big one pushed me i-into a wall a-and h-he c -called me a Pretty Boy and h-he hit me h-here." His shaking hand touched above his right eyebrow. "A-and I kept saying 'Let me go, let me go!' but he just… he just wouldn't listen. He hit m-my jaw r-really hard and my h-head smacked t-the wall really, really hard."

Blaine's hand went behind Kurt's head and he gently stroked the messy, dirty hair there in a soothing way.

"And I tried to k-kick him and I must have because then he… he…"

"He what, Kurt?" his dad urged.

Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "He p-punched m-my stomach really h-hard. I f-felt vomit in my mouth. H-he hit me there again and again and m-my mouth opened and I go-got throw up on him and he sl-slammed me up against the wall again and s-started hitting my c-chest r-r-really hard. It hurt so bad." He whimpered, and it tugged on Blaine's heart strings. "The other t-two kept c-cheering and it w-was disgusting. He kept punching me in the f-face and my s-stomach a-and then he quit."

"He quit?"

"I thought he was done." Kurt's voice shook and he took a deep, steadying breath and leaned against Blaine. "B-but then he m-moved me and t-threw me into a w-wood p-power line t-thing an-and h-he s-slammed my head i-into it r-really hard." He took another deep breath. "T-Th-then I h-heard this c-crack w-when he k-kneed me j-just over my stomach. And he m-moved back to my face and just hit me again and again and again a-a-and…" he swallowed, rubbing furiously at his eyes. "He kept saying, 'You're not so pretty n-n-now, are you, you _f-faggot_?' and I j-just couldn't say anything anymore because I'd been s-screaming the w-whole time and m-my throat hurt a-and m-my lip and nose w-were bleeding and it k-kept going down my throat and it was s-so n-nasty. A-and then he punched me again a-and I just felt like… like I'd died. It h-hurt so bad and then I woke up and… and I was here."

The room was silent, bar Kurt's sobs into Blaine's shoulder. Blaine had his teeth gritted and tears were in his eyes, but he did not loosen his hold on his boyfriend. Burt paced the floor, taking deep breaths. His fists kept clenching and unclenching, his eyes narrowed. He didn't know what to do, what to think. He was so angry this had happened to his son. His _son_.

"I tried s-so hard to get away, D-Daddy. I r-really did b-but he was too big." Kurt's voice came out so quietly and made him sound so small, like a seven year old who was afraid he was going to get into trouble for breaking a glass.

Burt rushed forward and in one swift moment had pulled Kurt out of Blaine's arms and into his own, hugging him. Kurt began to sob even harder into his chest, muttering all kinds of words that no one could even understand. Burt rocked him back and forth while patting his back. "Whoever did this to you will pay, Kurt." He vowed. "I will find these men and I will make sure that they pay for what they did to you."

"I really tried." Kurt sobbed. "I'm so, so, so sorry. I really tried to get away."

"I know, kid. I know you did." He kissed the top of Kurt's head. "I'm so proud of you, Kurt."

Burt didn't release his hold on Kurt for nearly half an hour, when the nurse came in to check his vitals and his medicine. She changed out his IV bag, unaware of the awful discussion that had just occurred in the room. She hummed cheerfully as she asked him how he felt, not noticing or choosing not to bring up his puffy eyes and tearstained cheeks. After telling Burt that his dinner would be in soon, she left.

Blaine sat on the edge of the bed and Burt stood on the other side, his hand on Kurt's shoulder. The renewed silence was short-lived, however, because Burt's cell phone rang. He sighed. "Hello… What exactly happened? … Well this is a really bad time, Jeff. I don't know what to tell you…"

"It's okay, Dad." Kurt whispered.

"No. I'm not leaving, Kurt." Burt said to him. "They can find a way to figure it out."

"I feel better. Honestly. You can come back after you resolve the crisis and we'll all stand around and sing or whatever, if you'd like. But go."

"Are you sure?" Burt looked in his face, lowering the phone.

"Yeah." Kurt shrugged. He really didn't mind if his dad left because he did feel better, and really wanted some alone time with Blaine so they could cuddle. There were just some things you didn't do in front of your father, and cuddling your boyfriend was one of them. "I've got Blaine. Plus, there's a marathon of Project Runway coming on. We both know how much you hate that show. I'll be fine."

Burt found himself a bit thankful for the crisis at work upon hearing that. Watching Teen Mom the night before had been torture enough. He wouldn't mind missing a few hours of Project Runway. "I will be back. Soon. Okay, kiddo? Very soon."

Kurt nodded, sniffling. "Okay, Dad."

"Do you want anything? Food or magazines or drinks? Want me to bring you back a new laptop and cell phone?"

"While any other time I would use the fact that you feel very sorry for me and would probably buy me a new car right now and ask for everything under the moon… I really don't want anything right now other than to watch TV. Thanks though."

"Do you want or need anything, Blaine? Food, book?" Burt asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you though." Blaine said softly. "If he decides he wants anything, I'll call you."

Burt nodded and ruffled Kurt's hair. "I'll be back as soon as I can, kiddo. I promise."

"Go on, get out of here." Kurt waved him off. "And tell Jeff he really needs to stop wearing those polo shirts with that green t-shirt like I know he is and make sure you say that they just look awful on him."

Burt snorted and left, shaking his head. He slowly closed the door behind him.

Kurt looked up at Blaine and sniffled a bit.

"Scoot over, you." Blaine said, glad Kurt could move more now and he wasn't banished to half on and half of the bed. Kurt scooted over carefully and looked down at his hands. Blaine leaned over, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "He lied."

"What?" Kurt looked up, his blue eyes shining from his tears still.

"That guy lied. You're still beautiful."

Kurt leaned against the older boy, smiling a bit. "I love you, Blaine."

Blaine kissed his cheek and pulled him even closer. Kurt fit perfectly against him, and the two pressed together comfortably. Blaine stroked his side gently as they snuggled. "I love you too, Kurt."


	5. Chapter 5

1\. Move bank accounts

2\. Withdraw from UK

3\. End lease for apartment

4\. Get everything packed and moved

5\. Apply for fall admissions to OU- online or night classes? Ask Carole which she thinks?

6\. Get Kurt a really nice gift to cheer him up

That was everything that Blaine had to do within the next three days. As difficult as the first five appeared to be, Blaine was sure he'd have the most difficulty with the last item on his makeshift list that he had written on a napkin from the cafeteria.

Kurt had ended up having a rough night. He'd woken up several times whimpering and kicking. The nurse had given him something to help him sleep, but it appeared to have mixed poorly with another one of his medicines because after taking it he ended up throwing up into a bucket for two and a half hours. By three in the morning the poor thing had finally gotten to the point where he was able to fall asleep, but he'd coughed through much of the night. That was why¸ after he'd woken up at 11:30 with a 100.7 fever, he had fallen straight back asleep and had remained that way ever since. It was now 3:00 in the afternoon and he was beginning to show those first signs of waking up. He'd uttered soft noises, had attempted to roll over a few times (which resulted in whimpers after putting pressure on his wound), and his hand was now feeling around and trying to grasp something.

Blaine leaned over and grasped his small hand. Kurt's fingers intertwined with his and he visibly relaxed. "Mmmmmhey." He yawned, eyes still closed.

"Hello." Blaine leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Do you feel better?"

Kurt squeezed his hand and nodded. "I think so, I'm just t-tired." He yawned again, rolling on his side so he was facing Blaine since his injury wouldn't let him face the other way. He yawned again, a very adorable one. Finally his blue eyes opened and he blinked at Blaine. "Hi."

Blaine laughed and kissed his forehead again."Have I told you that you're absolutely adorable lately?" He laughed even more when Kurt shook his head. "Well, you are. I'm almost positive that nobody looks as adorable when they wake up."

"Especially after they threw up all night." Kurt chirped.

Blaine just pressed his lips against Kurt's. "I love you."

Kurt smiled and returned the kiss. "I love you too." He pressed his forehead against Blaine's and just looked at his boyfriend, saying nothing more. Blaine occasionally gave him a quick kiss, but their eyes never left each other's. Finally, he spoke again. "I'm afraid, Blaine."

Blaine reached up and stroked his soft cheek. "You have no reason to be. Your dad and Carole will be right here."

"But you won't be." Kurt looked down. "Half the time I feel like a little baby duckling lately, just toddling after you and become depressed whenever you leave the room. Am I a baby?"

"No." The older boy shook his head slowly. "You're most certainly not a baby duckling either, Kurt… you're just scared and that's okay."

"Knowing you won't be here tomorrow sucks. And if Finn wrecks my car, so help me God, I will kill him." Kurt joked in an attempt to lighten the mood, not wanting Blaine to worry.

"In all seriousness, Kurt, tomorrow will be fine. The police officer will just want to know exactly what you told your father and I. That's all. It won't even take twenty minutes, and then think about it. You'll have all day to watch those silly shows you like that I complain about." Here was Blaine's own attempt to lighten the mood a bit, but it didn't exactly work.

"I'd rather have you here and watch a stupid football game." Kurt grumbled, then sat up and leaned against his pillows. "What if they don't believe me?"

"They have no reason not to believe you, sweetie." Blaine kissed his hand.

"I wasn't even raped. I don't think they'll care…" he looked down at his lap. "It's not that big of a deal, right?" There was a tone of sarcasm in his voice, but the way he stared down as he said it made Blaine's stomach churn.

Blaine was completely shocked by that statement. It was the last thing he expected Kurt to say. Not a big deal? He had a punctured lung. He still had some cuts and bruises that were visible, although most were beginning to fade. Not to mention the emotional turmoil he knew was only going to get worse. Soon Kurt would go from being upset to being angry. Then he'd go back to being upset. It was going to be a long process. "It's a very big deal, Kurt. You had to have _surgery_. You could have _died_."

Kurt made a very odd expression and then shrugged. "But I didn't."

"It doesn't matter that you _didn't_! You _could have_ and I'm very sure they'll see it that way. All you have to do is tell them what happened tomorrow." Blaine didn't know how to tell Kurt that it was a much bigger deal than he was trying to make it out to be, and that he didn't have to pretend he was okay. He squeezed his hand, hoping to reassure him, but Kurt just shook his hand free and wrung his hands together timidly.

"What if they catch them?" he whispered.

"They'll prosecute them. They'll be charged with assault and they'll go to jail for a very long time. You'll be safe." Blaine's hand moved to his head and his fingers ran through Kurt's lighter hair.

"But will I have to… See them?"

Kurt was sounding like a scared little child again and it was breaking Blaine's heart. He didn't like this Kurt. He liked cute, funny, sarcastic, and witty Kurt who always had the perfect comeback to anything you could say. "I don't know, honey… I guess that would depend if they plead out. I don't think there would be a trial… but I can't be entirely sure."

Kurt was silent for several moments and then he visibly relaxed. "You watch too much Law and Order, Blaine." He teased.

"I've actually never seen it." Blaine laughed. "I just considered law school and read up on things. I really enjoyed the Civics class at Dalton. Plus, my grandma was a judge before she became mayor. She would tell me all about it when I was younger." He continued stroking Kurt's hair, watching the younger boy carefully. He smiled when Kurt looked up at him. "Feel better?"

"Yes. Come sit up here with me." He nodded eagerly and scooted over towards the other edge of the bed. Blaine got up there with him and they both fit comfortably. They were pressed pretty close together, but they would have been just as close if they'd been in Kurt's room on his bed. And probably even closer if they'd been on Blaine's bed, but that was something else entirely. "You don't talk about her much."

"My grandma?" Blaine rested his head against Kurt's shoulder.

"Yeah." Kurt took Blaine's hand in his own, playing with Kurt's fingers. "Is she nice? She always looked nice on the TV."

Blaine pressed his lips together thoughtfully. He didn't really like talking about his family much, so he wasn't really sure how to answer. She had always made Blaine's father step up and do the right thing where Blaine was concerned. Then again, she'd also paid to have Blaine sent to Dalton Academy, conveniently right at election time. Having a gay grandson standing next to her at those publicity things surely would have cost her a few votes. Blaine had always thought, deep down, that it was for that reason she paid for him to attend the school and not because of his bullying. "She's nice…"

"That doesn't sound very convincing." Kurt whispered, opening his arms. "C'mon. You won't hurt me."

"I might." Blaine protested.

"Nope. You're going to let me hold you and tell me all about your mean grandmother. Do it or I'll go all diva on you."

Blaine slid down into a semi laying position and very carefully laid his head on Kurt's chest, making sure to avoid getting close to his wound. Kurt's fingers stroked his hair. "She's not mean. There isn't that much to tell, really." He shrugged.

"I don't believe you." Kurt said in sing-song voice.

Blaine laughed quietly and then shrugged again. "I don't know… she's never really been outright mean to me. It's complicated…"

"I can handle complicated." Kurt urged. "It'll take my mind off of tomorrow."

"I really don't want to bother you with all of this right now, Kurt." Blaine nuzzled him. "Let's talk about something else. What do you want to study in college? Theater?"

"Maybe… I kind of want to study fashion design or merchandising too." He reached down, linking hands with Blaine again. "I looked at schools in Kentucky… Eastern Kentucky University offers both."

"You were looking at schools in Kentucky?" Blaine tilted his head up to look at Kurt, his heart fluttering a bit.

"You seemed to like Kentucky… I want to be close to you. But UK doesn't offer Fashion merchandising… and EKU is only a half an hour drive away from UK… " he bit his lip and looked back down at Blaine. "Maybe we could live together?"

Blaine sat up and hugged him. "I thought you wanted to go to school in California or New York?"

"That was before I met you."

Blaine's heart fluttered again and he pressed several kisses to the top of Kurt's head. He was so in love with Kurt Hummel that it just… what could he even say to explain? It was an overwhelming feeling, but overwhelming in the most amazing way. The boy made him absolutely melt. He had no idea how amazing he really was. He had no idea what he did to Blaine. "Oh, Kurt… don't give up your dreams to be closer to me. We can make long distance work. We did really good these past 3 months, didn't we?"

"Well I really want to be with you, Blaine… I-I've missed you so much and I just don't think I can be without you."

Blaine moved them so they were back in a lying position, stroking Kurt's hair this time. "Well maybe we can have some sort of compromise? I really liked UK, but I'm willing to go somewhere else to be with you… but I'll be completely honest with you. I don't see myself liking living in California or New York very much. I've visited New York and it's amazing to visit but… I think to live there would be another story completely."

"Do you still want to go to law school? I know you're majoring in English, but you've never really talked about what you want to do after it. You just joke that there's nothing you _can_ do with it."

"Law school is really hard." He touched Kurt's nose, smiling a bit. "It would be nice but I don't know if I'd even get in."

"If it's what you want to do, you should try." Kurt offered him a big smile, despite the fact that he was beginning to look a little paler and sleepy. "I'm sure you'd be an outstanding lawyer. You're outstanding at everything you do."

"Thanks." Blaine kissed him. "C'mere, take a nap. Your dad will be here with your dinner by the time you wake up and then we'll watch Chicago. I know how much you like Mr. Cellophane and He Had It Coming."

The smaller boy nodded and burrowed his face in Blaine's chest. "Don't go anywhere."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Kurt. Just get some rest." Blaine kissed the top of his head and made himself comfortable as Kurt fell asleep.

* * *

"Thanks for helping me with all of this, Finn."

"Don't mention it." Finn stood behind Blaine as he struggled to get his house key into the lock. It was 9 in the morning and pouring rain. "We picked a hell of a day to do this."

"Welcome to my life." Blaine grunted as he finally got the door to unlock and pushed the door open. "It's probably really messy." He had to say this out of habit. In actuality, his house was very neat and organized. He was just such an organizational person that if one thing was out of order he felt as though the entire house was in disarray. That is why he often spent late Friday nights cleaning every inch of his small apartment.

"Nice place! My dorm room sucks. And it's always freezing." He put his hands in his jeans pocket as he looked around. "Do you really make enough money to have a place this sweet? Where do you work?"

"Well I worked at the main campus library and at the textbook store down the road. I didn't make that much though. My parents paid for this place." The words felt nasty in his mouth. He hated that they paid for this place and wanted nothing more than to have enough money to support himself.

"That is totally awesome, dude. Your parents must really like you if they put out this much money."

 _Something like that_ , Blaine thought as he kicked in the several boxes he'd brought to pack his things. They tracked water on the floor. "It was already furnished so we don't have to worry about anything like that. This shouldn't take long."

"I can't get over how sweet this place is!" Finn exclaimed a few seconds later as he was putting books into a box. "Dude, what did your parents say when you told them you were leaving UK? Mom was worried about it but I told her they'd be totally cool with it. It's for Kurt and all, you know. It's not like you're just dropping out, right?"

"Right. I actually haven't told them yet though." Blaine tossed DVDs and CDs carelessly into a box, eager to get packed. He had already transferred his bank accounts and went to end his lease (which was thankfully quarterly meaning, since it was late October Blaine only lost out on two months worth of rent money, which he paid off while there), and had officially withdrawn from the University of Kentucky. The billing advisor had tried repeatedly to talk him out of it after seeing his straight A's, but nothing was keeping him from getting back to Kurt.

"Why not? Think they'll be mad?" Finn taped the box up.

"Probably. They don't exactly like that I'm with Kurt, Finn."

He'd never said that out loud. Well, he had to Wes… but that didn't count. It had always been sort of an unspoken thing between Kurt and Blaine, both of them knowing but choosing not to dwell on it. After all it wasn't Kurt they disliked; it was their "ways." It was sad because they hadn't even taken the chance to _meet_ Kurt. Not that he expected his father to, but his mother could have at least met them for lunch or something.

"Do they not like Kurt?" Finn asked, sounding very defensive.

"They don't like that I'm gay." Blaine said shortly. "I didn't exactly fit into their perfect home picture. I don't really talk to them all that much. They just pay for my school and apartment because my grandmother, who doesn't like me very much ether, makes them."

Finn stared at Blaine, mouth hanging open. "Your family… your family doesn't talk to you because you're gay? I didn't know anyone could _not_ like you, dude! You're so… likeable."

Blaine laughed. "Thanks, Finn. It's okay. Not every parent is as understanding as Burt and Carole, but I knew it was going to happen." He folded up a blanket that was on the couch and set it on the coffee table neatly. "I knew when I came out it wasn't going to go well. I came out on my twelfth birthday. To my dad. He signed me up for a Conversion Camp the next morning."

"A what camp?" Finn looked at him, confused.

"It was called Desist or something like that. It's down in Tennessee. It's a camp that my parents sent me to… to turn me straight."

Finn dropped the box he was holding, which luckily held nothing breakable. " _What_?"

"It was this utterly ridiculous camp." Blaine had really never talked about it before. He tossed things into a large box, not looking at Finn. Thinking about that camp gave him an uneasy feeling. "You couldn't even talk to your family. I stayed there for six weeks. The first week you stay in an _approved_ hotel with _one_ family member. You can't speak 'or communicate in any way' with them. You can only close the door fifteen minutes a day to shower. You can't call or text your friends. You can't watch the news. You can't listen to any music unless it is Christian and approved." He tossed in more clothes as he spoke, getting angrier with each word. "And you have to read and write these _ludicrous_ journals."

"About what?" Finn was still staring at him in shock.

Blaine sort of waved his hand in a careless way. "About how you would 'change your ways!' What does that even mean? Oh, I'll just flip on a switch and suddenly like girls?"

"But you didn't live there?"

"After the first week you do stay. You stay roomed with 3 other gay teens."

"Could you talk to them?"

"Yeah, but it was just ridiculous." Blaine taped the box. "There wasn't a whole lot of talking, and when there was it was… well… Everyone just talked about sex and drugs. At night people would sneak out and throw parties and drink and fool around. The camp did nothing but give a bunch of gay teens the chance to have sex. We wrote our journals about abstaining and ignoring our urges, but five minutes after we finished writing it almost everyone would be locked in the bathroom with someone having sex."

"S-so… did they just read the Bible to you and stuff?"

"We had to memorize verses." Blaine moved onto his dishes, Finn following him into the other room. Blaine wanted to stop talking about it, but didn't want to be rude. "And if we didn't have them perfectly memorized, you'd be _punished_."

"Punished?"

Blaine's hands were shaking as he lowered his plastic plates into the box. "Yeah, punished. Sometimes they'd make you watch these stupid documentaries on the joys of loving a woman or man. You know, the gays would watch one on loving a woman and the lesbians on loving a man. And sometimes they'd make you just stay up all night memorizing and reciting verse after verse. And sometimes some of the younger "ministers in training" would beat you."

" _What?"_ Finn yelled.

"Yeah. They liked to knock you around. Especially if you were smaller or more flamboyant." Blaine took a deep breath. It was like he couldn't stop talking about it now that he'd started. He never even told Kurt about what went on at the camp and he most definitely hadn't told him about his rampant sexcapades. Kurt knew he'd had a very active sex life when he was fifteen, but he didn't know any specifics. "There were investigations launched all the time. They'd hit a kid too hard and someone would see when the kid went home, you know. But it never did anything. They sent me there five summers in a row."

"Why did they stop sending you?" Finn asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." Blaine said in a sharp voice. He'd talked enough and they were reaching territory on a completely different level. Blaine couldn't go there, not right now.

"Okay, dude." Finn nodded and went to pack some of the stuff in his cabinets. He was quiet for several moments until he said, "I guess I… uh… shouldn't have asked… I'm really sorry, Blaine… that's… that's not cool. What they did to you, I mean…"

Blaine looked up and met Finn's eyes. By this time he had had enough time to calm down and he flashed him a big smile. "Thanks. It was a long time ago, it's okay. Just don't tell Kurt."

"Kurt doesn't know?" Finn looked surprised. "Why not?"

"I don't really like talking about it. If he ever asked, I'd tell him. But I don't feel the need to bring it up, you know…" Blaine shrugged. "He worries about enough as it is. I'll tell him eventually."

Finn nodded again, still feeling guilty for having upset Blaine. It was pretty cool, though, that he'd just had a bonding moment with his little brother's boyfriend. In that short conversation he had gained so much respect for Blaine Anderson and it made him look at the boy in a completely different way.

* * *

Finn and Blaine didn't have everything unpacked and settled until about 10:00 that night, and Blaine knew there was no way he would be able to sneak into the hospital since visiting hours ended at 9:00. He had been hoping to make it to the hospital so he could at least spend the night with Kurt, but it hadn't exactly worked out that way. It had taken Blaine and Finn longer to pack up than he thought, but the fact that they left the TV on the Buckeyes game didn't help that at all.

"So tired. Can't move." Finn moaned, collapsing on the couch.

"I never knew a box of clothes could be so heavy." Blaine fell onto a chair in the living room. He started blankly at the TV, not even watching it. He had half fallen asleep when his cell phone rang. He looked down at it, immediately feeling d read that it was his parents. But there was virtually no way they could already know… no way. It was a random number, but he decided to answer it anyway. "Hello?"

"Blaine."

Blaine smiled and stood, making his way into the guest room he'd be staying in."Hey! How do you feel? How did it go?"

"It went alright." His boyfriend's voice said softly. "I miss you. Are you home yet?"

"We just got finished. I tried to get back in time to come see you but it took longer than I thought it would. Sorry."

"Mmmh, it's okay."

Blaine could picture Kurt curling up on his side as he held the phone. He probably looked adorable doing it too. "Did you watch a lot of TV today?"

"Mhmm. Carole and I watched Beauty and the Beast. I may or may not have teared up." He yawned. "They said I could come home soon. Probably the day after tomorrow. Or the next. As long as I don't get another fever or anything."

"Oh?" Blaine asked. He waited for a few seconds but didn't get an answer. "Kurt?"

"Hmmm?" Kurt was obviously dozing.

"Kurt, I love you…. I love you." Blaine's stomach suddenly knotted up, thinking about his conversation with Finn from earlier. He wanted to go see Kurt, to have Kurt hug him. Even if Kurt didn't know what was wrong, it would make him feel better. Any time he thought about sad stuff, he'd just go right up to Kurt and ask for a hug. Kurt was very good about not prying for information at times like that. He'd just wraps his arms around him, stand up on his tip toes, and rest his head on Blaine's shoulders. Sometimes he'd hum or rock Blaine a bit, others he just stood still squeezing his boyfriend tightly until Blaine decided to pull away. "You do know that, right?"

"No, don't take the phone. No." Kurt whimpered suddenly.

"Sweetie, it's Carole. I'm sorry but he's falling asleep over here. They've changed his medicine again."

Blaine bit his lip and resisted the urge to sigh softly. "Tell him that I'll talk to him tomorrow?"

"Of course, honey. You should get some rest yourself. You sound exhausted."

"I'll do that now, Carole. Thanks." Blaine hung up the phone and lay down, but didn't go to sleep. He was thinking much too hard to fall asleep and that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

* * *

"Hello, Kurt!"

Kurt, who was in the middle of taking a bite of mashed potatoes, almost dropped his fork (' _Who eats mashed potatoes with forks?'_ he had thought when the nurse handed him the tray) and his eyes widened in horror. Rachel Berry was standing in his hospital room and he, Kurt Hummel, looked terrible. He looked terrible as in he had not showered in a week and probably smelled. He looked horrible as in his hair was oily and he was pretty sure his face was breaking out from his lack of face washing.

"Oh god." He gasped as two men followed her quietly into the room.

"Rachel, you cannot just barge into somebody's hospital room without knocking!" Leroy Berry, her African-American and Muslim father, whispered.

"Kurt, how are you?" Hiram, Rachel's Jewish father, asked as he approached the bed.

"Oh god." He repeated.

Leroy laughed. "This is why you don't barge into people's rooms, Rachel. You would have thought you learned your lesson after what happened when you were six. I take it she lied when she said she called you?" his attention turned to Kurt.

All Kurt could do was nod.

Rachel just rolled her eyes as she sat down on the large cushioned window sill near Kurt's bed and crossed her legs. "I knew he would say no, but honestly it's just getting ridiculous. He's been in here for a week and hasn't been letting anyone in to see him. Mercedes is going hysterical, Kurt."

"Rachel, I can't believe you did this." Hiram shook his head and took a seat by Kurt. "I'm sorry, Kurt. Sometimes she forgets that the world doesn't revolve around her."

"It's got nothing to do with _me_! I've come down here, Kurt Hummel, to discuss the setlist for Sectionals. New Directions needs your input. If we look better, it will make me sound even better."

Leroy's eyes widened in horror. "Rachel! Please, go to the cafeteria and buy something! Honestly!"

"Daddy, he'll be back in no time and we're the two best singers in Glee club. I need his feedback. We're carrying the weight of the club and if I want to get into—."

"Carry that weight elsewhere for a few minutes, okay? And try to come back a little less _self absorbed_ , sweetie." Hiram added. "I blame you for buying her the karaoke set when she was three, Leroy…"

"Fine!" Rachel sighed. "But I will be back, Kurt, and we will be discussing things. I want to run some ideas for our costumes by you. I'm thinking Alexander McQueen inspired. I know the guy is dead but—."

"Sweetie, go." Leroy made a waving motion with his hand, and then pointed at the door. He was smiling at his daughter though and only looked slightly annoyed.

Rachel Berry left the room, practically skipping.

"We are so sorry, Kurt. She said that you'd told her we could come." Hiram said, leaning close to Kurt and putting his hand on Kurt's. "How are you holding up?"

"Oh god."

Leroy laughed and took the other seat by his husband. "Don't worry, Kurt. We won't judge you by your appearance. Only because every other time we've seen you, you've looked _amazing_."

Kurt blinked at them and opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"We wanted to come as soon as we heard you were here, but your dad said he thought you needed some time. I hope you don't mind." Hiram spoke in a gentle voice.

"Of course I don't." Kurt squeaked. "T-thank you for coming."

Leroy smiled. "How are you holding up, Kurt? Are you healing okay?"

"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "My wrist feels much better now and I can eat solids and move around… They don't want me to try walking yet though. They think it will tire me out too much or something."

"You really should take it easy." Hiram gave Kurt's hand a small squeeze. "Is anyone here with you? I thought I saw your dad's truck."

"Dad's on the phone with Jeff. Another meltdown at the garage, you know. He's got all new staff—well apart from Jeff— and two of them are kind of idiots." Kurt shrugged. "He's probably just outside where he can get better service. Blaine will be here soon too."

"We brought you some snacks!" Leroy suddenly exclaimed, holding up two things of Tupperware. "I got you cookies because everyone likes cookies. Hiram thought you'd want fruits… which is probably true because you always eat healthy… but cookies are good and that's what I contributed. They are store bought, though, because I can't cook."

"We know that, honey." Hiram laughed. He had been the father to stay at home and take care of the house and Rachel. He had only started working again once Rachel turned thirteen and was deemed mature enough to stay home alone (and to cook her own dinner, because anytime it was her and Leroy alone he would opt for fast food).

Kurt gave an awkward laugh, not knowing what to say. He hadn't seen Rachel's fathers in over a year, but they—Hiram especially— used to be the people he would run to when things got to be too much. Especially when things at McKinley started getting really bad.

Hiram gave a soft sigh, hand still over Kurt's in a reassuring way. "Are you okay?"

"No." The words came out much quieter than he'd meant them to, and he sounded like a little child.

Leroy sat on the edge of the bed, where Blaine usually sat, and looked carefully at Kurt.

"I cried when Rachel told me." Hiram said quietly. "I hoped you wouldn't have to go through anything like this, Kurt…"

"Me too." Kurt whispered, looking down.

"It gets better." Leroy patted Kurt's knee. "Eventually it really does."

"Doesn't feel like it will." Kurt sniffled a bit. "And I leave tomorrow or the next day… I don't want to go home."

"I felt the same way after I was attacked when I was your age. Only your attack was much worse." Leroy spoke softly. "It's an adjustment. But your family will help make the process easier. And you can call either of us. Even if it's three in the morning."

Kurt gave a rather pathetic smile as his lip started to tremble."I know. It's just h-hard to even think about it."

Hiram stood and pulled Kurt into a hug. "You need to think about it and talk about it so you can heal… I remember Leroy held it in and it just made…" he trailed off, searching for words.

"It made things harder." Leroy sighed. "But once I talked about it, I felt so much better. It made it easier to cope with and easier to heal."

"I'm scared." He admitted into Hiram's chest.

"I know, sweetie. I know."

The door opened a bit.

"Rachel, can you gi—oh, hello." Leroy said and then smiled. "Oh, this must be Blaine."

Blaine quietly stepped in. "Am I interrupting?"

Kurt shook his head, wiping his eyes. "No."

Leroy moved back onto the seat. "I'm Leroy Berry. It's nice to meet you."

Blaine smiled unsurely. "Rachel's dad? I'm Blaine Anderson."

"Hiram Berry." Hiram held out his hand as soon as Blaine had reached the bed.

"Oh, I didn't know Rachel had two dads. It's nice to meet you both." Blaine shook Hiram's hand and then Leroy's.

Hiram ruffled Kurt's hair. "Should we leave you two?"

Kurt shook his head, not really wanting them to go. He felt more at ease knowing Leroy had gone through this and that he was okay. It gave him hope that he'd be okay too. "You don't have to."

Hiram nodded and ruffled Kurt's hair again. "We'll stay for a while longer, but I don't want to stay too long. You need your rest."

The four remained silent for a few minutes. Kurt's eyes found Blaine's and he sniffled a bit, silently begging him to come and sit beside him. It wasn't that he was so much scared. He just really need Blaine beside him.

"Do you go to school with Kurt and Rachel still, Blaine?" Leroy asked Blaine in an attempt to make small talk.

"No. I actually graduated last year." Blaine answered, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Do you to go OSU with Finn?" Hiram asked curiously.

"I went to UK to study English. I'm taking a small break though." His eyes looked at Kurt and he smiled at him.

"I didn't go to school for a few years before college." Leroy said thoughtfully.

"He thought he could make it as a model. It didn't work out for him." Hiram snorted and shook his head.

"If I hadn't modeled—"

"Tried to model."

"If I hadn't _tried to model_ , I wouldn't have met you."

Kurt laughed quietly at the two men. He'd been to their house enough and had had enough sleepovers with Rachel to be used to their bantering. When he was younger, before he'd met Blaine, he used to want what they had in each other. They were his idols in a way. Of course they would be, they were the only gay people that he knew apart from his aunt who rarely saw him.

The door opened and Rachel sauntered in. "Blaine Warbler!" she exclaimed, as she always did upon seeing him.

"Anderson." He corrected, but was very used to this by now. She wasn't the only person who called him Blaine Warbler. "Hello, Rachel."

Rachel rushed forward to hug him. "I love the whole hair thing you're going on. It's so sweet of you to drive up to be with your boyfriend. I admire your dedication to him. Although I have to say, your presence is entirely unnecessary."

Leroy kind of rolled his eyes and Hiram hit him. Blaine just glanced at Kurt, eyebrow arched.

"I mean he's got Mercedes and I, naturally. Only he hasn't let us see him. But we would have been here too if they'd have let us in. I tried getting in the first day but they escorted me out. They said it was because oh my singing—I just wanted to announce my presence— but I really think they just didn't like me. Now, Blaine, how do you feel about turquoise shirts and neon green boas? Very Alexander McQueen, yes?"

"Erm… actually, I don't think so… and…" Blaine looked at Kurt.

"That sounds atrocious, Rachel Berry." He heaved a huge sigh. "What are you doing to Glee club? I've only been gone a week and you're trying to take everyone back to the 1970s. If you follow up this with asking about bell bottomed white pants, I am never talking to you again."

"I moved past my animal sweaters. I thought you'd be proud." Rachel scoffed.

"I'll be proud when you don't describe a baby's throw up bib color scheme and compare it to Alexander McQueen."

Hiram laughed and stood. "We should head out, Kurt. We don't want you getting all worked up and keep you from resting."

Leroy patted Kurt's knee as he stood. "Call us anytime you need to. We're always here to talk."

Kurt nodded. "Thanks for coming. Really. All three of you."

"You'll be okay. It gets better." Leroy said softly.

"Take care of him, okay?" Hiram said to Blaine, shaking his hand. "It was nice to meet you."

"Can I stay?" Rachel asked.

"I think Kurt needs his rest. We'll bring you back again later." Hiram answered, walking to the door and looking back towards Kurt. "Bye, sweetheart."

Rachel leaned down to kiss Kurt's cheek."I'll be back to visit. Call Mercedes if you can. She's really worried."

"I will." Kurt nodded.

Leroy gave Kurt one last look and left with his husband and daughter.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and nuzzled his side, glad he finally had Blaine to himself. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." Blaine leaned down to press a kiss to the top of his head.

Kurt kept his head pressed into Blaine's side for quite some time. All of his tension was slowly fading and being replaced with comfort and safeness. He felt Blaine's fingers taking turns between stroking his hair and rubbing his back. He hadn't felt so comfortable in a long time.

"You asleep?" Blaine whispered, not wanting to wake his boyfriend if he was napping.

Kurt shook his head, scooting closer. He felt Blaine move as he laughed and then he felt himself being tugged closer. He looked up at Blaine, chin resting on his stomach. "Sorry I fell asleep on the phone. That medicine hit me harder than I thought."

"It's okay." Blaine gave him a small smile and touched his cheek. "You look much better today."

"Did you get everything on your to do list done?" Kurt questioned, leaning against him.

"Yeah. Open your hand."

"Why?" Kurt asked slyly.

Blaine kissed his cheek. "You'll see. Open up."

"Can I at least keep my eyes open?" he questioned as he opened his hand. He didn't get an answer, however. Blaine just reached into his pocket and then dropped something very small into his hand.

"I wanted to find something better but… nothing was good enough. I hope you like it."

Kurt looked into the palm of his hand and saw a tiny green glass turtle with bright blue eyes. It was very detailed and beautiful.

"It's eyes reminded me of you so that's why I picked it. On the way home we stopped for food in this little shopping center… I wanted to find something better but—."

Kurt leaned up, kissing him and cutting him off. "He's perfect. I think I'll name him… Nolan."

"My name was almost Nolan." Blaine laughed. "It was going to be Nolan Christopher Anderson at one point."

"Very prestigious." Kurt noted.

"And it was almost Zachary Sean. Lucas Branson. Remington Dominic."

"Gross! That's almost as bad as Wyatt."

"Wyatt would be my middle name." Blaine nudged him.

"Your middle name is really Wyatt?" Kurt laughed loudly.

"I think they just wanted a name that sounded rich." Blaine shrugged, very used to people laughing at his name. He laughed at it himself sometimes. His parents taste in everything was extremely tacky.

"Blaine Wyatt Anderson." Kurt spoke his name in a way that made it sound much prettier than it actually was. It really had a nice ring to it. "Blaine Wyatt... you know, I kind of like it."

Blaine snorted. "Well you're incredibly biased, aren't you? What middle name goes with Kurt Hummel?"

"Elizabeth." Kurt's reply was instantaneous.

"I told you mine, Kurt. You have to tell me yours. It's only fair."

"It's Elizabeth."

"K _uuuuu_ rt."

"My middle name is Elizabeth. I was supposed to be a girl." Kurt said, looking very serious. "The doctors thought I was going to be a girl. My mother was ecstatic because she'd always wanted a little Elizabeth to name after herself. So she decided to fill out my birth certificate when my dad went to the bathroom. Dad wanted me to be named Kurt… so she named me Kurt Elizabeth Hummel."

"You're lying. I don't believe you. Not even for a minute."

Kurt huffed a bit, frustrated, and returned his attention to his little turtle. "Nolan is so cute. What should his middle name be?"

"Sarah?" Blaine teased.

Kurt smacked his arm and it was a surprisingly hard smack for someone as tiny as Kurt Hummel. "Make fun of my middle name again, Anderson, and I'll call you Remington Dominic _every day_ for the rest of your life."

Blaine laughed and leaned against him. "You make me smile… and that's still not your middle name, Kurt."

"Well you're a meanie." Kurt pouted, although he definitely welcomed his boyfriend being closer to him. Blaine really was too smart for his own good. Then again, that was part of why he liked Blaine. He was extremely intelligent. "Now pick out our child's middle name!"

"Our child, huh?" Blaine looked at the turtle. "Personally I think he gets his looks from you."

"Blaine!" Kurt laughed loudly again. "Pick a name!"

"Hmm… Nolan Alexander?"

"Nolan Alexander Anderson-Hummel." Kurt gave a very serious nod, as if they were deciding on the name of an actual child. "Good job, Blaine. I like it."

Burt opened the door, stepping in. "What are you two up to?"

"Naming our first child." Kurt chirped, while Blaine just shook his head and laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

"Kurt… Kurt, sweetie… come on, wake up." Kurt tried to ignore the female voice and hand shaking him. "Sorry, girls. He's on this medicine that really wipes him out. Kurt, honey…"

"Mmmh stop." Kurt moaned out, trying to roll over onto his side. All he wanted to do was sleep. He wasn't ready to get up yet.

"Honey, you've got visitors." Carole whispered, giving his shoulder another shake. "Come on, wake up."

"Blaine can wait." He snuggled up to his pillow.

"White boy, you better wake yourself up and tell me why you didn't text me for _ten days_!" Mercedes Jones, his best friend, said loudly.

"Don't yell at him." Came Quinn Fabray's sweet and quiet voice. "How do you feel?"

"And why do you look like you haven't showered in a week?"

Kurt forced his eyes open, despite how groggy he felt. It took his eyes several seconds to focus on his friends. "That would be because I haven't." he said sleepily, pushing himself slowly into a sitting position.

"What happened, Kurt?" Quinn asked quietly. "We've heard… things. Finn only said you were in the hospital, and that anything else we'd have to find out from you. Are you okay?"

"I want to know why you didn't call anyone." Mercedes cut in. "I thought we were your friends, Kurt."

Kurt rubbed his forehead and winced, mentally reminding himself to use his other arm the next time. He could move on his own but he had to be careful when it came to using the left side of his body because his healing cut from the surgery was still very sore and he didn't want to pull any stitched.

"Are you okay?" This time Mercedes' voice was quieter, less angry.

"I don't have a phone. That's why I used Blaine's phone last night. I'm sorry I didn't call. And to be completely honest, I've been pretty out of it this week…" Kurt let out a soft sigh.

"What happened?" Quinn sat on the edge of his bed, on his left side.

"Be careful, sweetie." Carole cautioned her kindly. "He had surgery and his side is sensitive. Kurt, I'll be out in the hall if you need anything, okay?" she ran her fingers through his hair.

"Thanks, Carole." Kurt nodded and waved as she left. He looked up at Quinn and Mercedes sort of nervously. He hadn't seen Quinn since she had graduated with Finn last year, but they still talked on the phone a lot. Especially about Quinn's new boyfriend that she had met at college in New York. It turns out Quinn made it out of Lima and Kurt was very happy for her. Mercedes he saw daily of course, she was his best friend. He felt guilty for not calling her but, at the same time, he really hadn't felt up to talking to anyone apart from his family and Blaine.

"Surgery? _Surgery_?"

"I had surgery on my lung. It… got punctured. That's why I haven't been able to shower. The doctor's say I can't shower until I go home." Kurt tried to make it sound cheerful. He was pretty sure he failed, though, judging by the looks on their faces.

"Can you say that again? Because I swear you said you had a punctured lung and _surgery_!" Mercedes exclaimed. "No wonder you didn't call, baby! Are you okay? Can you breathe? Do you need oxygen?"

"Calm down, 'Cedes." Kurt gave a quiet laugh and forced a smile. "I can breathe for the most part. If I get upset or anything, though, it becomes harder. They usually put me on oxygen every few hours just to make sure…" he trailed off rather lamely.

"Oh God, Kurt." Quinn grabbed his hand. "I didn't know it was so bad."

"Yeah, Kurt. We thought you just got beat up and didn't want anyone to see you in a hospital gown. I don't even think Mr. Shue knows it was that serious!" Mercedes added.

"He knows." Kurt looked down at his hands. "The teachers were all informed. I can't go back to school for a while… and I probably won't be able to come back to Glee when I do." He felt tears filling his eyes when he thought of not being able to go to Glee club with his friends.

Quinn squeezed his shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Your health is more important. You need to get better."

"It's just hard." Kurt's lip trembled. "I really wanted to go to nationals with you guys this year. We didn't win last year… it was going to be our year." Kurt was such a baby. He buried his head in Quinn's shoulder and started to cry, not entirely sure he was even actually crying over Glee club or not.

"Hey, I didn't end up winning nationals and I turned out okay, didn't I?" Quinn asked in an attempt to cheer him up. "And you're in even better shape now than I was back then. That whole off and on thing with Finn…" she shuddered a bit. "But you. You've already got a gorgeous boyfriend who adores you. A family who cares for you. That's better than going to nationals, isn't it?"

"Blaine is kind of gorgeous, isn't he?" Kurt sniffled, resting against her.

"That boy is damn _fine_." Mercedes nodded, sitting on Kurt's other side. "We saw him leaving as we were coming in. He's got a big car for being so short."

"His hair is really adorable. I never knew it was actually curly." Quinn said thoughtfully, stroking Kurt's hair.

"Look at him, smiling. All we have to do is talk about Blaine to cheer him up." Mercedes grinned at him.

Kurt laughed, wiping his eyes. "He's too good for me."

"He may be too good _to_ you but he's not too good for you." Quinn corrected, handing him a tissue.

"He is, however, too hot for you."

"Hey!" Kurt gave a watery hiccough and then laughed. "You can't be mean to someone in a hospital. It's in the Rulebook."

"All I'm saying is you could decrease his hotness and give it to someone else, who can date me. If you want, you know?"

"I'm quite happy with his hotness where it's at, thanks." Kurt huffed.

Quinn just shook her head. "You'll find someone when the time is right, Mercedes. It will be when your least expecting it. Right, Kurt?"

Kurt nodded, wiping his sticky face. "Yeah… I can't believe I met Blaine the way I did still. It had been such a crappy day and… he was…"

"Sexy?" Mercedes grinned again.

"Oh yes." Kurt laughed. "But I really…. I really didn't expect it. At all. Everything was going wrong and then… there he was."

Quinn rested her head against his and linked their hands. "Was it love at first sight? We weren't talking much then…"

"For me it was." Kurt gave another laugh. "I don't think it was for Blaine. He says it was, he just didn't _know_ it. I'm happy with how it happened though."

"Oh, Kurt…" Mercedes leaned forward and hugged Kurt. "Do you want to talk about it? What happened?"

"Not today, please." He whispered into her neck.

Quinn put her hand on his back and rubbed it gently. "You tell us whenever you're ready to tell us and not one minute before. We brought you something."

Kurt sat up curiously. "What is it?"

"It's in the hall. I'll get it. We wanted to surprise you, but I wanted to yell at you first." Mercedes let Kurt free from the hug and went into the hall, coming back with a basket. She set it on the bed and Kurt sat up, pulling it onto his lap.

"We got the snacks because I remember how bad the hospital food was after I gave birth." Quinn laughed. "And we got the book because you're obsessed with Judy Garland. We thought you'd enjoy it."

"And the pajamas because we knew you'd be in bed a lot. I know you love that navy pair, Kurt, and it looks amazing on you, but it won't last if you wear them every day all day until you're better." Mercedes added. "And those are rainbow socks. We just had to."

Kurt felt tears filling his eyes. He was such an awful friend for not having them visit him sooner. They were so nice to him, and he felt as if he'd treatment them like crap. Why were they so nice to him?

"We just wanted to let you know we're here for you, Kurt. We love you." Quinn said softly, arm around him.

Kurt leaned against her, beginning to cry. "I love you guys too. Thanks for not coming in and asking me about neon green boas."

"She didn't!" Mercedes gasped. "Miss Bossy Pants is dumb but she can't be _that_ dumb!"

"Is that a beanie baby too?" This time Kurt gasped, pulling a little plush orangutan out of the basket. "It's Bongo! Oh my God, it's Bongo!"

Quinn laughed and just hugged him. "Finn said something about how he—"

"Destroyed my last Bongo? Brutally _murdered_ him?" Kurt prompted.

"Ran over it with a l—."

"Don't! It's too painful!" Kurt hugged the beanie baby, blocking out her words. "My poor Bongo."

"Just keep this one away from any lawnmowers."

Kurt made an expression of utmost despair. "My poor, poor Bongo never saw it coming."

"Well this is certainly a weird first thing to hear walking into a room."

Kurt's face suddenly lit up and he gasped, "Hi Blaine!"

"I thought that was you, Mercedes, but I wasn't completely sure. How are you? Hi, Quinn." Blaine gave a small wave and took one of the seats next to the bed as the bed was full.

"I _love_ your hair. It looks so soft." Quinn said, looking as if she was refraining from reaching out and touching it the dark curls.

"Thanks." Blaine looked at Kurt hugging his small stuffed animal and smiled. "How do you feel?"

"Sorry for myself." Kurt responded. "But I've got Bongo and crackers so I will carry on."

"Okay, Kurtsie." Mercedes stood. "You're starting to look a little tired."

"I always look tired. I always am tired." He sighed. "I'll steal his phone and talk to you two later?"

"Not before you're ready, but do call us." Quinn ruffled his hair and then kissed his cheek. "I'm going back to NYU so if I'm in class I'll call back."

"Alright." Kurt nodded, waving a bit. "Thanks for coming all this way to see me."

Quinn grabbed a pen and napkin, scribbling her phone number on it and handing it to Blaine. "Call me if he needs anything or if anything happens, alright?"

"Will do." Blaine nodded and accepted the napkin. "And I've got your number still, Mercedes."

Mercedes hugged Kurt. "Let people take care of you, alright?"

"I'm trying." He said softly.

"Text me when you get home."

"I will. I promise."

Both girls gave Blaine a hug before leaving. Blaine looked at Kurt who had began to sniffle. "Hey, hey… don't cry." He climbed onto the bed. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"I'm such a b-bad friend."

"Why do you think you're a bad friend?" he asked, wrapping his arms around Kurt.

"I s-should have called." His lip trembled. Damn his emotions. He hated crying, but he felt like it was all he did lately. It wasn't only depressing, but it also really wore him out. He wanted off of the medicine and he wanted to feel better.

"Kurt, you're in the hospital. You've been dealing with a lot of stuff lately. It doesn't make you a bad person for not having visitors. You don't want to stress yourself out more." Blaine whispered calmly, trying to make him feel better.

"You and D-Dad have been here though."

"You couldn't have made me leave if you tried." Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek and tried to change the subject. "You get to go home tomorrow."

"I can't wait to shower." Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry if I smell."

Blaine laughed. "You don't smell. You don't need to be worried about it."

"I know my hair is awful. I don't know how you can touch it."

His hand moved to Kurt's hair instantly and he began playing with the light brown locks. "You've got more important things to worry about, Kurt. Like getting better. You stress over stuff you don't need to think twice about. Just try to relax and not stress today, okay?"

"Fine." He looked up at Blaine with big blue eyes. "Can we watch Aladdin?"

"Sure, Lizzie." Blaine grinned at him.

"I hate you."

* * *

"You're so light, kid." Burt said as he easily lifted Kurt off of a wheelchair and placed him into the back seat of his car. "Hand me that towel in the front seat, please, Blaine. Both of them."

Blaine opened the door and did as told, watching Burt wrap the seatbelt up in the towels. "So the seatbelt doesn't mess with your stitches." He grunted, seeing Kurt's confused face. "Sit up straight."

"It's hard." Kurt moaned, trying to sit himself up straight but struggling. It had felt so easy yesterday, but yesterday he had been on some serious painkillers. Now he felt as though every move was slowly killing him. Burt put his hands under Kurt's shoulder and pulled him up gently. Kurt winced as the seatbelt was buckled and went to move it.

"No, kid. You've got to keep it on." Burt situated it in a way that was a little better but still uncomfortable. "Don't slouch down or it'll rub. And don't give me that look, Kurt. There's nothing I can do about it."

"Just drive fast then." Kurt shrugged, moaning again.

"Sit back with him, Blaine. Don't let him slouch down."

Blaine nodded and got into the back seat. Although they had gotten up very early, it took four hours to go over everything that Kurt would need, how he needed it, what medicine he had to take and when, what was normal, what wasn't normal, how Kurt would shower, how he could lay, how he could move, how he couldn't move… It wouldn't have taken so long if the doctor had done it all at one time, but he felt the need to keep leaving.

Burt got into the driver's seat of Kurt's car (he'd known his truck wouldn't have held the three of them comfortably), and started the engine. "Are we hungry? I'm starving."

"No KFC, please." Kurt said sleepily. Moving into a wheelchair and into a car had made him feel like he hadn't slept in days. Things were becoming foggy and he realized just how weak he really was when it became a chore to hold his own head up. He felt Blaine squeeze his hand and then fell asleep.

"Have you got him?"

Kurt curled up to whoever was holding him, waking from his deep sleep.

"Yeah, I've got him."

"Mmmh, Blaine." Kurt said cheerfully. "Your shoulder is like a marshmallow."

"That medicine must have kicked in." he heard his father say.

"Woah!" Kurt cried out suddenly as everything seemed to lurch. He clung to Blaine, eyes widening.

"I'm just stepping onto the porch. It's okay." Blaine said reassuringly.

"Don't drop me. I don't want to fall. The ground is hard." He muttered very quickly.

"I know. I'm not going to drop you. Stop moving. I'm going up another step."

"Woah!" Kurt jerked in his arms, pushing out his own arms as if to stop a fall. "You're going to drop me!"

"I'm not going to drop you if you stop squirming." Blaine grunted, taking the last step. "There? See. All done. Where do you want him?"

"In the kitchen." Kurt chirped.

"No, no. On the couch." Burt said very firmly.

His son was having none of it, intent on standing his ground despite the fact that putting him in the kitchen was quite impossible. "No. In the kitchen."

"Kurt, on the couch."

"No, _in the kitchen._ With the dog."

"Kurt, we don't have a dog."

"His name is Fido and we've had him since I was six. He's only got three legs."

"The kid's been watching that Animal Shelter infomercial again." Burt said, pointing to the couch. "We'll move him to his room later."

"Where's Fido?" Kurt questioned, having forgotten he wanted to be placed in the kitchen. He was finding it very hard to focus on things. "This couch is comfy, Daddy. I'm glad you didn't get that hideous green one because it looked—it looked like—oh hi, Blaine."

Blaine eased him onto the couch, carefully laying him down. "Hello sweetheart. Do you feel okay?"

"Oh, I feel great! Can we go for a walk? Or a run? You like to run, right? I know you do and I think it's silly. I don't like to run but, you know, I really feel like I can run right now. All the way to…."

"This is going to be an interesting week." Burt muttered. "I'm going to go and separate all of his medicine and make a list of everything before I forget. I'll just be in the kitchen. Can you handle him?"

"Yeah, I've got it."

Burt ruffled Kurt's hair and headed into the kitchen to separate his child's many pills.

"Blaine, I like your hair like that." Kurt leaned up.

"Hey, lay down. You're going to hurt yourself."

"It's so curly and bouncy. Well, it would be if it were longer." He did not lie down, but attempted to stand.

"Kurt, Kurt. Stay down. I'll sit by you."

"You look Asian. Well, not really. Well. Blaine, are you from Japan?"

"No."

"China? Cause they're practically the same, you know. In Asia. And they talk really fast. It's _so cool_." Kurt was talking very quickly still, his mind going a mile a minute.

"My mom's from the Philippines and my dad's Irish." He said calmly, wondering if Kurt had thought that when not under the influence of painkillers and had been too afraid to ask.

"So… are you Asian or not?" Kurt asked, head tilting to the side.

"No. I am not. I am from Ohio just like you."

Kurt suddenly lurched forward, kissing Blaine.

"Kurt, you've got to stay down. You're going to tear your stitches out." Blaine wrestled him back into a laying position. As much as he would have liked a nice make out session, it was hardly the time.

"You don't want to kiss me. I don't want to kiss you either because I really don't like your hair. Curls are stupid."

"You just told me how much you liked my hair curly." Blaine pointed out, moving Kurt's arms from being crossed over his chest as he pouted. "I think you secretly love them, but want me to think you don't, you silly thing. But I know you love them, so you can stop pretending. Don't do your arms like that over your chest. You're going to hurt yourself."

"Will you lay with me?"

"I don't want to hurt you. You're going to be more in pain now that you're not on the medicine at the hospital. The couch is too small."

"I feel fine, though! Hey, did we get food? I'm starving!" he moved to sit up. "Dad? Daddy!"

Burt wrestled him back down again, having reached him. "Kurt, even if you _feel_ like you feel fine, you can still hurt yourself. Just because you can't _feel_ it doesn't mean you haven't done something. Do you understand?"

"Don't be so mean to me." Kurt whined. "You're hurting my feelings, Dad."

"If you aren't going to listen to us, you're going to hurt yourself. Do you want to have to go back to the hospital?" Kurt shook his head, rather child-like. "Okay. Then you just lay down. Blaine will put the TV on and I'll bring you your food in five minutes. Alright?"

"Alright." He nodded very seriously. "I'm sorry."

"See how long that lasts." Burt laughed, standing up straight.

"I'm going to be very good, Daddy." Kurt maintained his serious expression, making Blaine laugh. God, why was Kurt so damn adorable? It made Blaine love him even more.

"Let's make this easier on ourselves, Blaine…You lay still, kid, and I'll get you a puppy."

"A real one?" Kurt's eyes lit up as if he'd just been told Christmas was coming early. "I won't even move."

"Okay. Blaine's going to tell me if you act out."

"I've wanted a puppy since I was 7!" Kurt breathed excitedly as his father left the room. "I'm so excited! A puppy! That's a baby dog."

Blaine sat on the floor next to the couch. "Let's watch some TV. What do you want to watch?" he flipped to the TV guide. "Let's see… Gilmore Girls is on?" Kurt shook his head. "Okay… Judge Judy?"

"She's got a serious attitude problem."

There were many witty comebacks that Blaine could have had to that statement, but because—and only because—Kurt was still hurt he decided to hold them until the next opportunity arose. While Blaine was convinced that Kurt was, without a doubt, the sweetest person ever he knew very well that when Kurt was mad he could get an attitude that would rival… well, anyone really. So Blaine nodded, biting back his funny comment, and continued down the list. They spent ten minutes debating shows ("Toddlers and Tiaras?" "Who do you think you're dating?" "Fine, Rocko's Modern Life?" "His wardrobe is worse than Finn's." "Family Guy?" "I don't like Stewie." "Shark Attack?" "Do I look like my dad?" "Sister Wives?" "Have you seen their clothes?" "The news?" "AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL!" "Well that doesn't come on for another 2 days, Kurt.") until finally Blaine was able to get Kurt to consent to watching the Food Network. Blaine didn't spend much time watching the show yet because he had to keep an eye on Kurt and make sure he didn't forget his promise to not move. Besides, he really just liked looking at Kurt. He'd gladly take the excuse.

As the next two hours continued, Kurt slowly became less energetic. He smiled less and, by the beginning of the third hour, he looked like he was about to cry. "My side hurts really badly, Blaine."

"I know, I know. I told you not to move so much." Blaine whispered softly. "You don't want to aggravate it. Just pay attention to the show and don't think about it. You can take your medicine in two more hours."

"I can't wait." Tears filled his eyes. "It really, really, really hurts."

"Shh, shh. I'll get you some Tylenol to hold you over, okay? Lay right here."

Kurt nodded, watching his boyfriend leave the room. His side was bothering him more than it had yet, even when he'd first woken up from his surgery. He knew it was because he was on less powerful painkillers, but the pain was almost unbearable. He also knew he couldn't have his medicine for two more hours because the doctors didn't want him to become dependent on the drugs. It didn't make it any easier though knowing the medicine that would take his pain away was sitting two rooms away.

Blaine came back quickly, untwisting the cap. "I'll give you one now and if you don't feel better, I'll give you another in an hour. Alright?"

Kurt moved to reach for it and winced.

"Here, I'll help you. Just stay still." Blaine got on his knees, reaching for his glass from their earlier lunch. "Open your mouth."

"This is so embarrassing." His boyfriend moaned.

"It's just me. Plus, think of it as payback for that time I got drunk and you had to stay up with me. You can't kiss Rachel though." He flashed Kurt a smile. "Now open up." Kurt did as told after shuddering at the mental image of kissing Rachel Berry. Blaine put the pill into his mouth and held the glass of water to his lips. Kurt drank as if his life depended on it. Blaine didn't rush him or look annoyed, just sat with him until the glass was empty. "Do you want me to get more water?"

"No thank you." Kurt gave him a weak smile. "Thanks."

Blaine kissed the top of his head as Burt came into the room. He had a very odd expression on his face, but said nothing. He sat down in a chair that was near the couch and looked at the TV not really paying attention to it. Kurt assumed it was just because he'd walked in on an affectionate moment, but he couldn't be sure. He returned his attention to the TV, or tried to at least. He rested his hand over his aching side, looking down every so often as if he expected to see blood. He felt Blaine's fingers running through his hair and his eyes closed involuntarily. "Get some sleep, Kurt." He whispered. "You'll feel better."

By that time, though, Kurt had already fallen asleep.

"Is he asleep?" Burt asked.

Blaine nodded. "It sounds like it. He needs rest."

"I don't even know how to bring this up… Blaine, the police officer called me when I was separating his medicine. Some other kid was attacked last night. They think it was the same people who did this to Kurt."

Blaine felt his blood run cold. A cold feeling literally seeped over his entire body and then was rapidly replaces with anger. His eyes fell back on his poor, sweet, and injured Kurt. "Did they catch them?" He knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway.

Burt sighed. "No. The kid is in a coma. He might not wake up."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand, feeling mixed emotions. He felt bad for the poor boy in the hospital. He felt angry at the people who kept doing this. He also felt relieved, so relieved, that Kurt was not the one in a coma. Kurt was home and on the way to recovery. Kurt would be okay. He didn't wish a coma on anyone else… but he was so glad it wasn't his Kurt.

"It was a block away from where Kurt was attacked." Burt rubbed his forehead. "I can't believe that could have been Kurt. I don't get it. I don't get why people act like this… I don't want to tell Kurt. Not unless we have to. I don't want to scare the kid on top of everything else. The police better catch them."

That wasn't realistic. Blaine knew it and Kurt probably knew it too. These men would go unpunished for their actions. The likelihood of these men being caught and punished… it wasn't very high. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. He didn't want to tell Kurt's father how unlikely it was that the people who almost killed his son would be punished. Instead he just said, "I hope they do." and stroked Kurt's hair…

* * *

Kurt sat in the bathtub the next morning, being very careful to not get his bandages wet. It was proving difficult. It would be at least two weeks before he could shower or bathe without his bandages, and even then he would have to be extremely careful.

"You doing okay in there, kiddo?" his dad called for the fifth time in 20 minutes.

"If I need you, I'll yell!" Kurt called back, sinking lower into the tub. All he wanted was to be able to slide down more until only his head wasn't submerged. Not only that, but he felt extremely silly taking a bath. He felt as though he needed a toy boat to play with or something. He wasn't five, this was ridiculous.

He knew he needed to come out of the bathroom soon but he was comfortable. He felt very conflicted. His side was killing him, but he absolutely hated being on the painkillers. They messed with his head and he could hear himself saying nonsensical things but there was nothing he could do to stop them. It was like he was trapped, in a sort of way. He hated the looks of sympathy he would get from Blaine and felt like the older boy was probably getting annoyed with him. After all, he'd said some pretty ridiculous things to him. Asking him if he was Asian? Seriously? There was a reason that Kurt had never talked about it and it was because it was _rude_. You don't just go up to people and ask if they're Asian. Well, apparently a drugged up Kurt Hummel did.

"Kurt, they said you couldn't stay in there too long. So you should try to wrap it up, okay?"

Kurt let out a noise of frustration.

"I heard that. Come on, Kurt." Burt sighed.

Kurt pulled the stopper out of the tub and watched all the water go down the drain. When the tub was empty he gingerly reached for his boxers, tugging them on. "Okay, dad. I'm ready."

Burt came into the room and grabbed the towel, helping his son dry off. "Feel better, kid?"

"Cleaner, not better." Kurt sighed, wincing as his father stood him up in the tub. "Can you make it out of the tub?"

"I can try." This was the first time Kurt had stood in two weeks and his legs shook. He lifted his left leg and swayed a bit, but his dad kept a firm arm around his lower waist.

"Here, just swing your leg over… there you go, good. Are you okay?"

Kurt nodded his head, feeling off balance but rather proud of himself. That pride was short-lived however. He moved to lift his other leg but lost his balance, toppling onto his dad.

"Are you okay? Kurt?" Burt asked urgently as Kurt cried out "Oh my god, I am so sorry!"

"Don't apologize. Carole, can you come in here?" Burt asked, trying not to yell because Blaine and Finn wee still asleep. Kurt was letting out whimpers, more shaken up than anything.

Carole rushed in. "Oh sweetie, let's get you up." She leaned down, putting Kurt's arm over her shoulders. "Nice and slow, okay?"

She lifted Kurt enough so that Burt could stand, and Burt easily picked Kurt up and carried him to his bed. He immediately pulled back the bandages over the front of Kurt' chest. "Everything looks fine, Carole. Do we need to call a doctor?"

"No, I think he's fine as long as he didn't tear anything." She bent low to survey his stitches. "No, they're all fine."

Blaine stumbled in, half asleep. "What was that noise? Is everything okay?"

"Is everyone just going to stand here?" Kurt asked impatiently. "I'm barely dressed and this is getting really awkward."

"Kurt fell getting out of the tub." Burt explained to Blaine as Carole helped Kurt tug on some large sweatpants.

"These are Finn's, but I think they'll be more comfortable for right now." She whispered in a soothing voice and then pulled on one of Kurt's old t-shirts. "There we go. Just scoot on back against the pillows and rest. Does your side hurt?"

"No more than it did." Kurt sighed. So much for being proud of himself. He couldn't even get out of a freaking bathtub? "I can do it, Dad!" he exclaimed as his dad moved to help him scoot back.

Burt looked at him anxiously. "Kurt, I'd rather just help."

"I'm not going to pull a stitch by scooting back!" Kurt looked down at his hand and then whispered, "I'm sorry." Why was he so angry? His dad had only been trying to help.

"I'm going to go get your medicine." Burt sighed, still looking at his son.

"I don't want it."

"Kurt, you have to—." Burt began.

"I'm eighteen and I don't have to do anything you tell me to!" Kurt said defiantly. "I don't like taking it. I just don't want to take the. Stupid. Damn. Medicine."

"What do you want me to say here, kid? Clearly you want something that I'm not giving you so let's stop acting like a spoiled brat and be out with it. We're both tired and bickering will get us nowhere."

Kurt just stared out the window.

"Why don't you like taking it, sweetheart?" Carole asked, sitting down by him.

"I don't know." He felt tears filing his eyes.

"Does it hurt you?" He shook his head. "Are you scared?" He shook his head again. "Well, what is it?"

"I-it makes me feel w-weird." He wiped his eyes. "Why am I _freaking crying again_?" he put his hands over his face and his shoulders started to shake.

"Weird how, honey?" she was being very kind and patient with him. Burt looked too frustrated to even speak.

"I-I dunno. T-they m-make me f-feel loopy. And h-hurt my stomach. I s-sound ridiculous."

"No you don't." she wrapped an arm around him. "Not at all. What else?"

"I-I don't like s-saying s-stupid things. A-and it makes me f-feel s-so sad and a-angry. And tired and w-weak."

"Honey, you have to take the pills. You'll stop feeling so loopy once you're used to them and in two weeks they're going to switch your medicine to something a little less severe. So it won't be forever. If you don't take them, you're going to be in a whole lot of pain. None of us want to see you in pain."

Kurt gave a small nod, wiping his eyes. He looked at Blaine, face all puffy from crying. All he wanted was for Blaine to sit by him and tell him everything was going to be okay.

"Alright." Burt clapped his hands. "Glad that's resolved. I'll go get the medicine then."

He left the room, and Carole gave Kurt a small squeeze. "You're going to get through this all just fine, Kurt, and you're going to be a stronger person for it."

Kurt gave a forced smile, wiping his nose.

"In no time you'll be back in school and then it will be summer and you'll go to college." She stroked his wet hair. "Your whole life is about to start, sweetheart. This is just a very small setback in many wonderful things to come. Okay?"

He nodded, trying to ignore how light-headed that nodding made him become. "Okay."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "I think Blaine will be able to comfort you a little better than me." She stood. "Here you go, sweetie."

Blaine gave her a weak smile and took her seat. "Thanks."

"Kurt, do you want some breakfast?"

Kurt shook his head.

"What do you want, Blaine?" she reached out and ruffled Blaine's messy hair, surprising him.

"O-Oh, I'm fine."

"He has an upset stomach for an excuse. Now what's yours?"

"She's giving you the look she gives Finn. Better just tell her to make you some toast." Burt said cheerfully coming in with pills and a glass of water.

"Toast sounds good." Blaine said softly, taking the pills from Burt.

"You boys leave the door open." Burt said as the two left.

"Yeah because there's going to be a whole lot of fooling around." Kurt muttered.

"Here." Blaine held out the medicine, setting them in Kurt's open palm. "Take them."

"Sorry I asked you if you were Asian." he whispered, looking down.

"You wouldn't be the first person." His boyfriend laughed loudly.

"You don't even look Asian really." Kurt muttered, still embarrassed. "Only some expressions will make you… I say the stupidest things sometimes. It bothers me. Sorry if it annoyed you."

Blaine rubbed his back. "It's adorable, Kurt. It didn't annoy me at all. I promise. In fact, it kind of made me want to snuggle you."

The younger boy gave another weak smile, but this one looked less forced than the one he had given his stepmother. He swallowed his pills, downed the glass of water, and curled up against Blaine's side. Blaine began to hum quietly and Kurt played with the fingers on one of Blaine's hands. The other hand ran through Kurt's hair soothingly.

"What are you humming?" Kurt whispered, eyes closing.

"I dunno. I was just kind of humming." Blaine answered, messing up his hair and grinning. He would probably never get the chance to mess up Kurt's hair without getting slapped, so he decided to make the most of it. Because it was wet, he was even able to get it to stay standing up.

"Stop it." Kurt whined. "I know what you're doing and I don't like it. And quit grinning."

"You know me too well." Blaine laughed, bending down to kiss his head.

"Just you wait until I feel better, Blaine Anderson."

"I'm sorry but it's really hard to be intimidated by someone whose hair is st—." Blaine was cut off as his cell phone began to ring.

Tension filled the room. It was as if both of them knew what it was. Who else would be calling Blaine so early? Kurt slowly sat up and Blaine reached over, picking his phone up off of the end table. "Mom" the blue screen flashed.

Kurt reached over, grasping Blaine's hand in his.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Blaine! Sorry to bother you. Something must be wrong with your UK account because we just got a notification saying 50% of your tuition has been credited to our account. Do I need to send you the paper?"

Blaine's mother had a thick accent, but Kurt was able to clearly understand every word.

"Blaine?"

"Mom, I'm in Ohio."

There were several moments of silence. Blaine was biting his lip, his chin rested on the palm of his hand.

"Oh, are you visiting that boy?"

"That boy has a name, mom. It's Kurt." This wasn't going to go well. Kurt squeezed the hand that he was still holding and Blaine sat up, running his other hand nervously through his hair. "And I'm here to stay. I withdrew from UK."

He closed his eyes, waiting for it. Waiting for her to shout for his father. It didn't come. He opened his eyes and looked down at his phone. She had hung up.

"Fuck." Was the only word to escape his mouth. Well, the cat was out of the bag now. She would call back soon enough after she'd consulted with Blaine's father. She would give the argument the man would have given himself if he weren't too disgusted to even talk to his son.

His phone rang again after a few silent minutes passed.

"Hello?"

"Your grandmother is calling the Dean, Blaine. You need to go back to school."

"Mom, I'm not going back." He closed his eyes. He felt Kurt's hand on his back, rubbing small circles.

"You have to go back to school! Do you know how expensive out of state tuition is, Blaine? Do you know what your father will say? What your grandmother will say? Blaine, she's running for a seat in the Senate. You can't do this to her!"

Carole stepped in quietly with his toast. Kurt mouthed something to her and she nodded, setting the plate down.

"I'm not doing anything to grandma and I really could care less what dad will say." His mother began shouting, a mixture of Chinese and English. Blaine was hitting his forehead as Burt came in. "Mom… mom… mom, would you shut up?"

Kurt jumped as she began shouting even louder, but Blaine looked completely unphased.

"Who's he talking to?" Burt whispered, although the woman was shouting so loudly she wouldn't have heard anyway.

"His mother." Carole whispered and sat down, putting a hand on Blaine's knee.

"I don't care about some stupid campaign, mom! I could care less if grandma ran for President of the United States. No, I won't talk in Chinese because I don't _want_ to! I can't just waltz back into UK. I _withdrew_. And don't you even bring Dalton into this because that is j—"

"This is that boy's fault! That boy! He's brainwashed you!"

Blaine made a motion like he was going to throw his phone, but Carole just patted his leg. "This has nothing to do with Kurt and stop calling him 'that boy'." He spoke calmly. Kurt wouldn't have been so calm if it had been _him_ on that phone call.

"That school! That camp was supposed to stop this! We spent $25,000 sending you those summers and what did you do? You get sent home because you—"

The reaction was instant. Blaine snapped his phone shut, his hand beginning to shake. He hadn't expected that. Not from her, maybe from his dad. He opened the phone and pressed the power button, promptly shutting the phone off. Kurt was still rubbing his back, Carole's hand still on his knee, and Burt was leaning against the wall, arms over his chest, looking angry.

Kurt leaned forward, his chest resting against Blaine's back, and hugged him from behind. Blaine leaned back slightly, still careful of brushing against his sensitive side. Kurt didn't know what to say, but he found himself wondering exactly what one would do to get sent home from an awful camp like that. Clearly it was something Blaine did not want Kurt or his family knowing about, because the way Blaine's eyes widened was instantaneous and he snapped that phone shut with record speed. He kissed the back of Blaine's head, his ear, trying to comfort the boy who had spent every single minute of the last two weeks doing the same for him.

"I'm fine." Blaine said shortly, setting his phone down beside him.

"She's going to call back." Kurt whispered.

"I know."

"You just leave that phone off. There's nothing they can say, at this point, that can't wait." Burt said gruffly. "What's done is already done and they can't force you to go back to Kentucky. I don't care who your grandmother thinks she is, she doesn't have control over colleges in another state."

Blaine nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Eat your toast." Carole ruffled his hair and left the room with Burt, quietly closing the door.

"Blaine, w—" Kurt began, quietly. He was never one to pry for information. Then again, he never knew there was information big enough to he withheld.

"I really don't want to talk about it right now, Kurt." Blaine cut him off. He didn't sound annoyed or impatient. There was no unkindness in his voice whatsoever. He just sounded stressed out and sad.

"Let's lay down." Kurt scooted down, wincing a bit.

"Here, let me help." Blaine offered him a small smile and gently helped him into a lying position. He couldn't be worrying about his parents right now. They knew Kurt lived in Lima, but they didn't know where. They also didn't know Kurt's last name, so there was no worries about them going down to the garage. No. What he did need to worry about was Kurt, who would surely begin reacting to his medicine soon. If he could get Kurt to sleep before the side effects kicked in, his boyfriend would be much happier. "That good?"

"Mhmm. Lay with me." Kurt held the covers up.

Normally Blaine would have protested, stating that Burt wouldn't like it. But he got under the covers and scooted close to Kurt. Kurt linked hands with him underneath the covers, letting his head rest on Blaine's chest.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kurt asked, having forgotten about how upset he'd been just twenty minutes earlier. It was funny. He was as worried about Blaine as Blaine was about him.

Blaine nodded and rested his chin on top of Kurt's head. "Come on. Let's get you to sleep before that medicine kicks in."

Kurt nodded and closed his eyes. The room was silent and Kurt's head rose with Blaine's chest with each breath he took. He felt Blaine's fingers stroking the back of his neck while he listened to Blaine's heart. After fifteen minutes, he sighed. "I can't sleep, Blaine."

"Why not, babe?" Blaine kissed the top of his head.

"I don't know…" he shifted and snuggled closer to him. He fell silent, but spent the next several minutes shifting and trying to get comfortable. Generally when he and Blaine lay together, Kurt would instantly find that perfect position. "Why is this happening?" he moaned. He could feel himself becoming sleepy, his eyes would shut, and then something in his head would say OPEN YOUR EYES KURT and he would. He became increasingly more restless as the time wore on, letting out whimpers of frustration.

Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek, then began very softly singing to him. He was singing some song that Kurt had never heard before but his voice was so beautiful, as it always was, that Kurt felt himself practically melting into a puddle. His eyes kept opening and closing, but Blaine's eyes remained on him. He had gotten midway through the chorus the second time around when Kurt's hand finally went limp at his side and he let out the tiniest of snores.

Blaine gently eased himself back down next to Kurt, careful not to jar his boyfriend awake. Kurt did shift slightly, but didn't stir. He yawned and looked at the clock. It was only 9 in the morning. Maybe he'd join Kurt in going back to bed. It was either that or sit for hours dreading his next parental encounter. Sleeping was definitely the better option of the two, so he closed his eyes and let himself fall back asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

"Blaine? Blaine?"

Blaine rolled onto his stomach, moaning into his pillow.

Kurt coughed loudly and shook his shoulder again. "Blaine, you're absolutely useless when you're asleep! It's like you hibernate or something!"

It took a particularly nasty cough to wake Blaine a few minutes later from his deep sleep. "Mmmh Kurt?"

Kurt shook his shoulder, determined to not let him fall back asleep, as he coughed.

"Water. Water." Blaine stumbled out of bed, tripped over his own shoes, and jogged to the bathroom in the hallway. He turned the water on, cringing at the sudden bright light. His eyes were red from sleeping and his pupils were huge. He could hear Kurt coughing down the hall, but that was only because it was the middle of the night and everything was turned off and everyone asleep. "Shit. I mean crap." He turned the faucet off, dumping some of the overflowing water back into the sink. He grabbed a napkin and dried the cup off, then slowly made his way back to Kurt's room.

Kurt was sat up, pale and still coughing.

"You should have woken me up."

Kurt gave him a look and rolled his eyes, but he didn't look truly mad.

"Was I that out?" he asked, handing Kurt the glass sheepishly.

"Yes. I got you to come to like five times but then you'd just roll over and go back to sleep." Kurt said after taking several long drinks from the cup. He gave one more tiny cough and then his fit ended. Sweat matted his forehead and he could see it had soaked through his shirt too.

"Oh, babe. Are you okay?"

"Just a coughing fit."

"Where's the thermometer?" Blaine was more awake now. He kicked his shoes under the bed so he wouldn't trip on them again.

"Bathroom. The top drawer." Kurt moaned, falling back into a laying position on the bed. He lay still as he waited for Blaine to return, feeling somewhat guilty. Not only did he have to wake Blaine up for some water, but now Blaine wouldn't go back to sleep because he thought Kurt was sick.

Blaine came back in, curls going in all directions. "Open up, honey." He took a seat beside Kurt on the bed and put the thermometer into his mouth, humming while they waited for the beep. "100.1. It's not bad, but I don't necessarily like it. Let's get your shirt changed at least so you'll be more comfortable." Before Kurt could even respond he was half way to Kurt's dresser and had opened the top drawer. He pulled out one of the UK t-shirts he had given Kurt and carried it over.

"You're good at this." Kurt whispered as Blaine carefully helped him change his shirt.

"Right arm now. Be careful." His eyes met Kurt's and he smiled.

"Was your mom a doctor or something?" Kurt asked quietly.

"My dad was. A pediatrician." Blaine eased him back down. "So I probably get it from him… Hope it's the only thing I got from him." He added as an afterthought. "Are you cold?"

"Burning up. Just lay with me, please."

"Do you want something for your fever though?" Blaine pushed his hair back, leaning over him.

"Lay with me." He shuffled over.

Blaine lay down and Kurt rolled onto his left side, then pressed himself to Blaine. Blaine rolled onto his left side as well and resting his arm on Kurt's waist.

"Blaine?" Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine.

"Yes, my love?"

Kurt smiled a bit. When Blaine called him 'babe' and 'honey' it always made his heart flutter. When he used expressions like 'my love', however, a thrill would go throughout his entire body. They were all nicknames and it was silly to get all excited over 'my love', but Kurt didn't chose what went straight to his heart and that was one of those things that did.

"What'd you want?" Blaine smiled at him sleepily.

"Well you threw me off and now I forgot." Kurt laughed and then coughed a bit.

Blaine reached up and touched his face.

"Blaine, come over to this side."

His boyfriend carefully crawled over him and lay on his right side so that they two boys were facing each other and not having to look at each other from awkward angles with heads turned. "Remember yet?"

"I don't want you to be mad at me." Kurt bit his lip.

Blaine sat up and reached over Kurt to turn the lamp on before settling back on his side to face Kurt. "Why would I get mad at you?"

Kurt sighed deeply. "Remember how we always said we'd be honest with each other?"

"Yes…" Blaine said slowly, his face filled with concern. "Of course I do. Is someone hurting you?"

"No… I just…" Kurt sat up. "I was honest with you. About everything. I always have been… and I like that I can be honest with you. Sometimes when I'm honest people can… take it the wrong way. But you never do."

"Okay?" Blaine bit his lip, eyes on Kurt.

"You're not being honest with me." Kurt looked down again. "I mean… You're not being _dishonest_. I don't think. Because I haven't asked, so I'm not mad… I just… want to know what you're keeping from me. So, consider this me asking… you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but… I'd really like it if you did."

"About what?"

About what? How much was there Blaine was keeping from him? Kurt's face must have shown what he was thinking, because Blaine looked down quickly. "… What your mom said… what did you do?"

His boyfriend sighed and sat up as well, facing Kurt. "Well you know I had a lot of sex when I was younger."

"You got kicked out of camp for having sex?" Well, that made sense… but Kurt had known about Blaine and his past sex life… so that wasn't exactly a secret. He didn't get why Blaine had wanted to avoid the subject so much. Of course Kurt didn't know details about his sex life… but were those details necessary to know?

Blaine looked very uncomfortable. "Not… exactly. I started having sex when I was fifteen. It was my fourth summer there… I mean, everyone was doing it. That sounds so stupid. But I started going when I was twelve, you know? And the second year almost everyone was doing it… the camps were awful, you couldn't do… anything. So everyone would sneak out and go into town, go to parties, get drunk and… fool around."

Kurt nodded.

"I went to the parties but I never had sex until I was fifteen. I just got drunk at one of the parties and there was this older guy, he was seventeen, and we started making out and then it just… happened. I don't even remember it, to be honest." Blaine continued. "But after that I wanted to try it again so I could remember it I guess. I don't know, you're stupid when you're fifteen. So I had sex again and… well everyone was doing it because, well, what else could we _do_? So I had sex… a lot."

Blaine was talking very quickly and struggling to find words. This was something Kurt had never seen and it worried him. He reached over and grabbed his hand. "But you didn't get kicked out for that? You went five summers…"

"Well after camp I guess I got restless and depressed or something. Well, I know I got depressed. I got restless too though and wanted to have sex because it… felt good. And Dalton doesn't let you stay over the summer so I was at home and… I guess I needed a release. Does that make sense? So that's what I did. I had sex all summer long with these people I didn't even know. My god, I could have ended up getting an STD or AIDS, Kurt. I probably had sex with, like twenty people. Maybe more."

"That's okay… you didn't get anything… right?"

"Right. I never got anything." Blaine waved his hand a bit. "I got checked out by three different doctors to make sure… and my dad found out."

"Oh no." Kurt said quietly.

"We got into this fight, Kurt. This really, really, _really_ bad fight. He ended up pushing me down and everything. I guess he thought that I might, you know, change my mind and decide to like girls. And he found out that I'd gotten tested for HIV and he just… flipped out. He kicked me out."

"But then why did you go back to the camp?"

"Well, I went to stay with Wes and his family for a while. Three weeks. And then my mother called and asked me to come home because… because my grandmother made them take me back in. She couldn't have a runaway grandson and win her election for mayor. I shouldn't have gone home… Wes told me I could stay. But I wanted to go home because… I thought m-maybe things would get better. That he would realize I was still his son. He didn't. It was awful when I went back. He wouldn't even look at me for _weeks_. If I walked into a room, he'd leave… and I saw the packets for the stupid camp on the table and I just knew he was making me go back but it was _so awful_. And I tried to argue. I was sixteen, I didn't want to go. They would hit you sometimes, especially if you were small or flamboyant. This younger minister liked to knock me around. I'm not exactly tall now and I was much shorter then."

Kurt felt tears well in his eyes and he squeezed his hand, trying to offer some comfort. He hated Blaine's parents. He'd never felt such hatred for another human being. It was worse than hate. "What happened?"

"Well I went back to having sex a lot… and the minister knew it, but he could never prove it. Obviously." Blaine gritted his teeth. "But he made sure to set me up, you know, so he could punish me. And it made me angry… one night I fell asleep and forgot to memorize this verse in the bible. The next day in 'class', I didn't know it so I was given a form of detention. You know, I had to memorize the poem until I knew it and stuff… so, he left me in there alone with his son."

Kurt got a confused look on his face.

"He was visiting his dad for something or other. This kid was so far in the closet, Kurt, that you couldn't get him out if you tried... well, I say that but… " he trailed off. "I don't even think he knew he was gay. He'd been brainwashed. Well he tried to make me do my lines and I refused. So he came up to my desk, like he thought he was going to hit me. He kept saying I was disgusting and needed to be taught a lesson or two. Like he was his dad or something." Blaine laughed a bit.

"Did you hit him?"

"No… I did better than that. I kissed him."

Kurt's eyes widened, mind racing. What did he mean? Kissed him? A minister's son?

"It wasn't like anything with you and Karosfky." Blaine said quickly. "He raised his fist to punch me and I kissed him. I guess it was kind of the opposite. I was trying to piss him off… I didn't think he'd… " Blaine trailed off again.

"What did he do?" he was becoming more worried. He didn't like where this was going.

"He pushed me into a wall, we made out for 45 minutes, and then we had sex. His dad walked in." There was no emotion whatsoever in Blaine's voice. He just looked tired.

Kurt covered his mouth with his hand, eyes even wider. "You had _sex_ with a _minister's_ son at a _gay-to-straight camp_?"

"It wasn't very good." Was all Blaine could think to say. "They had my parents pick me up that night."

"Blaine, why couldn't you tell me _that_? That's just… really funny actually."

"It's not." Blaine said softly, looking down. "Because it just… ended up pushing me over the edge. It got really bad at home and they wouldn't even let me out. At all. Like… I was locked in my room all day. They only let me out to go to church. They took away my phone, my computer, my music. It was like the camp only worse because I had no human contact… I went from a place where they would try to beat me down physically for being gay to a 'home' that beat me down emotionally… I became really, really depressed…"

Kurt's hand reached up to touch his face, his insides twisting. He wish he'd known Blaine back then. He would have begged his father to take him in. Burt would have done it in an instant, even if he and Blaine weren't dating. Kurt knew that much.

"I wanted to kill myself, Kurt. Is that pathetic? It is pathetic. I guess I'd just had enough. I'd been run out my school. Sent to a camp where everyone told me I was going to go to hell. They told me I had to change and, Kurt, when I was twelve and thirteen I really did try." There were tears in his eyes. "I tried really hard but I couldn't change. And it just… I was never like you, Kurt. I didn't just accept myself from the beginning. I spent the first three years trying to become someone I wasn't… and that wasn't even good enough. My w-whole life e-everyone I know has been so disappointed in me. I wanted to kill myself." He rubbed furiously at my eyes. "I really wanted to kill myself."

Kurt wiped his own eyes and then Blaine's, kissing his forehead. "Did you try?"

Blaine let out a laugh. "I was too afraid to try. My grandmother made m-me go to counseling because s-she couldn't have a d-depressed grandson in her family publicity pictures."

"Was everything about her moving up?"

Blaine nodded, tears spilling over. "S-she had to have a perfect family so it made her look better. They get so much money, you know." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "It was always 'You got a B on a paper. What would your grandmother say?' or 'If someone found out about this, your grandmother's reputation would be at stake!'"

Kurt moved Blaine's head onto his shoulder. "You seemed so happy when I met you."

"That was a year later. When Dalton started, Wes and David were there… I mean, it was kind of awkward talking to them about the camp and the sex and stuff but… they listened. And the counselor my grandmother sent me to helped a lot too. He was very accepting… I didn't go home for fall break for the first time and my parents didn't say anything… I went home with Wes over Thanksgiving break and Christmas break. Spring break we all three went to Florida. Summer I switched between Wes and David's houses. I mean I'd been happy at Dalton before because I had friends, but I always had to go home to my awful parents and things, you know?" Kurt nodded, rubbing his back. "That year was… the first two months of the school year was hard because I was still so depressed. But eventually I started to feel better. By the time Christmas came, I felt like a whole new person… It was the best year of my life and summer without spending those weeks at that camp… you don't even know how liberating that was."

"I'm glad they helped you." Kurt whispered.

"And then I met you."

He smiled and wiped Blaine's eyes again. "I can't believe you had sex with a minister's son at a gay-to-straight camp." He giggled a bit and then hugged Blaine.

"Can you imagine what it did to that boy, though?" Blaine looked down. "Having to find out that way and then his dad walking in…" he shuddered.

"Blaine, are you okay? Why didn't you ever tell me about all of this?" How was Kurt supposed to know all of this had happened? It was before they had met but he still felt bad that he wasn't aware. He felt like a bad boyfriend. He _was_ a bad boyfriend. How had he know known?

"Kurt, you needed someone and I wanted to be there for you the way no one was there for me. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and you had an easier time… I don't like to just go up and talk about my problems. I'd much rather help other people than help myself." He took a deep breath as more tears filled his eyes.

"Hey, hey." Kurt wiped his eyes again. "I'm the crier in this relationship, Blaine Anderson. So you better suck it up and walk it off." He teased.

Blaine reached out suddenly and buried his face in Kurt's neck, starting to cry.

"Shh, shh. I was just kidding, Blaine. Shh." He rocked Blaine back and forth, trying to ignore the dull pain in his chest from the movement. He'd had to cheer Blaine up before, but he'd never seen Blaine quite like this. He wasn't sure what to say, so he said what he knew he'd want to hear when he was that upset. "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay… oh, shh, shh."

"It was so hard being so unloved." Blaine choked into his neck.

"Oh, Blaine. They loved you, they just…" Kurt struggled to find comforting words. His heart felt like it was in his stomach.

"No, they didn't. Don't lie to me like that, Kurt. T-they stopped loving me t-the day I came out. I had to l-live like that e-every day until I went to Dalton in f-freshmen year. At s-school I was bullied and… and then I h-had to come home to it and t-that made it so much worse."

"Shh, honey. Shh." Kurt switched back and forth between stroking his hair and rubbing his back. "It's okay now."

"I always wanted a Dad like yours, Kurt. A dad I could talk to… a dad who could look past the fact that I like guys and see me for me."

"We can share my dad." Kurt whispered, smiling. "He told me yesterday that if I ever broke up with you, I was moving out and you were staying."

"He did not." Blaine sniffled.

"Yes. He did." Kurt said very seriously, moving into a laying position with Blaine and resting Blaine's head on his chest. "Yes, we'll just share him. He's got plenty of love to go around. He really does like you, Blaine… I think he just doesn't know how to act. Plus, he thinks you're scared of him."

"I am." Blaine looked at him. "Your father terrifies me."

Kurt laughed. "Don't let him! He's really just an old softie, I promise. Otherwise would I be so spoiled?" And Kurt Hummel was definitely spoiled. The only thing he'd ever been denied was a dog. "He adores you. I promise. He thinks you're a 'real stand up guy.' And Carole... she may be falling in love with you, the way she goes on about you when you're not in the room. Face it; you've basically been adopted into the Hummel family."

"They don't like me that much." He whispered, looking back down.

"Yes, Blaine. They do. They love you." Kurt kissed the top of his head. "And more importantly, I love you. More than I could put into words. I'm not like your family. I won't judge you by stupid stuff like sex… I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy." He sniffled. "That's why I don't like to think about it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you… I knew I'd have to tell you eventually… but things were going so well. I just don't like to think about them… it hurts."

"Don't let them get you down. Look at you. You got accepted into some of the top schools into the country on a scholarship. I was struggling to get C's in classes at Dalton and you had straight A's and I never even saw you open a book. You are so smart." Kurt whispered, playing with his hair. "And you're so polite that it's almost sickening at times. You're absolutely gorgeous, Blaine. Everything about you is just…" he put his forehead against Blaine's."You are so much better than them. You are smart, caring, kind, respectful, you have a smile that can light up the room. You've got so much patience, you're so understanding. I could sit here all night and come up with words to describe you but they wouldn't be enough. I don't know how two people so mean could raise someone so… perfect."

Blaine smiled weakly and kissed him. "You forgot sweet."

"I forgot conceited too." Kurt ruffled his hair, laughing. "And you're unhealthily obsessed with football."

"Is my snoring perfect too?"

"Yeah. It's so loud that when I sneak out to have sex with tons of girls and come home, you won't even notice me getting back into bed."

Blaine laughed this time. "Well you hit me. Really hard."

"It was only one time!" Kurt leaned forward, kissing him back. "I'm sorry I hit you in the nose while I was sleeping."

"And I'm sorry my snoring will push you into exploring sexual relations with women."

"Sexual relations." Kurt snorted, and then sighed softly.

The two fell into a comfortable silence, linking hands. Kurt's thumb moved up and down against Blaine's and he asked quietly, "Blaine?"

"Hmm?"

"You really are perfect."

"So are you, Kurt." Blaine squeezed his hand.

"We'll prove them all wrong." Kurt yawned. "I promise."

* * *

"This is so amazing, holy hell." Kurt shoved cheesecake into his mouth and said, mouth full, "Why didn't I eat this stuff before?"

It had been two weeks since Kurt had been home from the hospital and he was about to go to his first doctor appointment.

"Because it makes you fat and clogs your arteries?" Finn asked.

Kurt's fork stopped in mid air and he glared at Finn. "I'll have you know, Finn Hudson, that your hair looks ridiculous and that pimple on your chin _is_ noticeable."

Burt snorted into his orange juice. "Be nice, Kurt."

"I can't help that this medicine makes me eat like a pregnant woman! So you should just leave me alone because it's very early and I can't come up with any good comebacks right now."

"Makes you mean like a pregnant woman too." Finn muttered.

Kurt opened his mouth to respond, eyes narrowing.

"Come on, honey. Let's get you ready to leave. You can finish that cheesecake later." Carole said, holding out her arm. Kurt stood slowly. He had only been walking around for a day and a half and was shaky. Blaine jumped up from his seat and rushed to help as well as Kurt swayed. "Do you have him, sweetheart?"

Blaine nodded, sliding his arm around Kurt's thin waist. "I'll get him ready."

"Kurt, are you absolutely positive you don't want me to go into work late and stay with you?"

"I'm sure dad. I'll be fine. It's a doctor's office, what could happen?"

Burt nodded and let out a resigned sigh. "You call me as soon as you leave."

"Sweetheart, he needs to get ready." Carole said and then waved the boys on.

Blaine got Kurt to the stairs. "Take your time. I've got you."

"I don't know why dad's so worried." Kurt winced as he took the first step up.

"It's your first time out of the house. I'm a bit anxious myself." Blaine admitted, helping him up the next few steps. He had thought things would be awkward with Kurt after talking about his past, but the opposite had happened. Blaine only left his side to get food or to use the bathroom. He felt this overwhelming need to be with Kurt, to touch his hair, hold his hand, kiss his pale cheek.

"Don't be anxious." Kurt was breathing heavily as they reached the last step. "It's not a big deal."

"What do you want to wear, my love?" Blaine sat him on the bed.

"As much as it pains me to say it, sweat pants. This Prednisone is making me gain so much weight that I doubt I'd fit into my pants."

"You've gained 4 pounds at the most, Kurt. And you'll wear it off in no time when you're able to start walking regularly." Blaine began rummaging through his doors. It was really quite amazing that Kurt let him as "no one touches the clothes. Not even you, Blaine." That was what he'd said one week after they'd started dating and he'd offered to help Kurt, who was freaking out over a wardrobe mishap, pick out an outfit. Blaine seemed to have made definite progress, even if it was only because Kurt was so weak. "Black or gray?" he called over his shoulder.

"Black." The way Kurt said it had a definite 'duh' behind it and Blaine rolled his eyes. "I saw that in the mirror, Blaine."

Blaine stuck his tongue out and exclaimed, "Kurt!" when a pillow flew across the room and hit him in the back of the head.

"Did you see that? I have got _amazing_ aim."

Blaine threw the sweatpants at him. "Just for that I'm finding the ugliest t-shirt in here, young man."

"There are no ugly t-shirts in there." Kurt scoffed. "It's my drawer, not yours."

Blaine turned and approached him, grinning. "You think you're funny, don't you?"

"Naturally."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh at his boyfriend. "You're a real pain sometimes, Kurt."

Kurt just blinked up at him, smirking. "I like to keep you on your toes."

He rolled his eyes. "Let's get you changed and get this doctor visit over."

Kurt nodded and lifted his arms up. Blaine tugged his shirt off, eyes going to the bandages. He had yet to see underneath them. Kurt had been pretty adamant about only Burt and Carole changing his bandages. He had a feeling Kurt was embarrassed of the incision and it broke Blaine's heart. Blaine carefully pushed a clean t-shirt over him. "Okay, you've got clean boxers on right?" Kurt gave another nod and Blaine proceeded to tug off his current pajama pants. It took no time at all to get Kurt's pants, socks, and shoes on and he resolved to carry Kurt down the stairs in an attempt to save Kurt some pain.

"Now it's right next to Lima Memorial." Burt said, helping get Kurt into the car. "It's got a big blue sign. You can't miss it. Kurt knows which one it is."

Blaine nodded. "Is the quickest way the highway?"

"Yep, that's the way I'd go. They're doing construction on the main roads, so the highway will get you there faster. Here is his insurance card, his license, and mine. Oh, and my credit card for the co-pay. I don't know what they'll need. If they need anything else, just call the garage."

"Alright." Blaine put the stuff inside the glove compartment.

"If he's up to it, stop by the grocery store and get some stuff when you get his medicine filled. Finn pretty much wiped the place out. If not, just leave him in the car, get the medicine, and order some pizza or something with my card."

"Okay." Blaine nodded again, getting into the driver's seat. "Right by Lima Memorial?"

"Yes. You can't miss it." Burt nodded. "Kurt, you call me and let me know what they say."

"Okay, dad. Go to work!"

Blaine shut the car door and waved, then backed out of the driveway.

"It's really easy to get to." Kurt said, resting against the back of the seat. He wasn't completely better, but Blaine could definitely see an improvement in how his boyfriend felt. For instance, he was _leaning against the seat_ and not whimpering because of the pressure it put on his side. He was _throwing pillows_ when before he could hardly lift a glass of water to his mouth. Kurt was doing better, feeling better, and it made Blaine ecstatic.

Blaine turned the radio on.

"Another top 40's channel, Blaine? You really need to add some variety. And you need to clean your car."

Blaine decided to not mention that McDonald's bag had been in there since before Kurt was admitted to the hospital. That would not go over well with Kurt.

"Hey now. When we're in your big truck of a car, I don't make you turn your music." he pointed out, glancing at Kurt.

Kurt had his head back against the headrest but was looking at Blaine. "Because my music is superior."

Blaine just shook his head, grinning. "You're something else, Kurt." He glanced back to Kurt again and saw Kurt grinning back at him. It took under fifteen minutes to reach the doctor's office. Blaine pulled into the closest spot to the door so Kurt wouldn't have to walk as far, shut off his car, and went to unbuckle Kurt's seat belt. "Feeling okay?"

"Yeah." Kurt moved so his legs were outside the car, almost touching the ground. They touched the ground and he hoisted himself up.

"Be careful." Blaine whispered anxiously. He reached out and put his hands on Kurt's lower waist. "Nice and slow."

Kurt put his arm around Blaine's neck and leaned against his boyfriend. Blaine shut the car door, not even bothering to lock it because he had more important things to worry about, and got Kurt to the door. A receptionist rushed forward to hold the door open and helped Blaine sit him down.

"I forgot his cards in my car." Blaine hit his forehead. "I'll be right back, Kurt."

Kurt nodded and slouched down in the seat, yawning. Blaine jogged to the car, got out everything he needed, and ran back in. He approached the receptionist window.

"Kurt Hummel?" she asked. She was a very pretty young woman wearing Garfield scrubs.

"Yeah. Here's his insurance card and his license." Blaine passed the two forward.

"Whose account is the insurance under?"

"Burt Hummel." Kurt said from the seat.

"Date of birth?"

"September 10, 1976." Kurt said before Blaine got a chance to look at the license.

The receptionist smiled. "If you can help him fill this out, the doctor will be out in no time. If he needs a bathroom it's right through this door, and a water fountain is on that far wall."

"Thanks." Blaine flashed a big smile, accepted the clipboard with registration papers, and went over to Kurt. The second he had sat down, Kurt leaned against him with his head on his shoulder. Kurt whispered all of the information quietly and his voice sent shivers up Blaine's spine.

They were ¾ of the way done with the papers when a voice called out Kurt's name. Blaine stood and wrapped an arm around Kurt. "Can you hold the clipboard?"

Kurt nodded and accepted it. A young man held the door open for them.

"Okay, let's get your jacket off and I'll weigh you." The man said, setting his own clipboard down as soon as they had passed the door. It shut and the man helped Kurt out of his jacket. "Can you stand on it?"

Kurt nodded and moved one foot onto it, swaying a bit. The man had his arms out, prepared to catch him. Kurt moved his other foot onto it and straightened himself as much as he could. "Good. It looks like you've gained 4 pounds."

_Told you_ , Blaine thought biting back a grin. Kurt shot him a look as the man helped him down. "I'll get you into a room and the doctor should be in soon. I think he's just giving someone a few shots." There was loud crying. "Yeah, I was right. Giving a kid shots."

Kurt laughed a little. The man grabbed his jacket and lead the way. Blaine walked slowly with Kurt, bearing most of Kurt's weight.

"Now just sit in the chair. We won't worry with getting you onto the bed unless the doctor wants us to, okay?"

"Alright." Kurt nodded and took a seat. "I'm going to just take your blood pressure and temperature so we can make sure everything is in order." Kurt gave another nod, doing everything the man told him to do. "Good, your temperature is normal and your blood pressure is—as always—fantastic. He'll be right with you, kid."

The man left and Kurt rubbed his forehead.

"You okay?" Blaine asked, standing next to him. There were no other seats, but he didn't mind standing. Especially if it meant Kurt didn't have to go through the stress of getting onto that high bed. That had been bothering Blaine for a few days.

"I've got a little headache but I'm fine." Kurt gave him a smile. "They usually don't take too long to get back. We shouldn't be here very long."

"They can take as long as they need. I'm not in a rush." Blaine reassured him, ruffling Kurt's hair. Kurt leaned against his leg. "You can try to get some sleep while we wait if you want."

"No, no, I'm fine." He yawned and stretched, then whimpered. "That hurt."

"Oh baby." Blaine leaned down and kissed the top of his head. "Be careful."

There was a tap at the door and then it opened. "Hello, Kurt."

"Hey Dr. Gibbons." Kurt said, sitting up straight.

"How are you doing? Is your medicine working alright?"

"It makes me kind of… loopy. But it helps with the pain. I've been able to move a lot more this last week that I was before."

"Okay I'm going to lower this bed and we'll get you onto it, alright?"

"That may be a problem." Kurt said quietly.

"Oh, you'll be surprised at how low we can get this thing." The doctor said, going to the other side of the bed. He pushed a button and it lowered itself closer to the floor. "Let's try to stand up on our own."

"I can't do that." Kurt said instantly. "I always have to have help getting up. When I put my arms down like this," he demonstrated, "it always puts pressure on my side."

"That's normal." The doctor helped Kurt up and over to the bed. "Now I'm going to lift it back up and we'll take a look."

Blaine watched Kurt nod. He didn't like seeing Kurt back on a bed like that. Even if it didn't have the bars like the ones in the hospital, he still didn't like that Kurt had to be here. Kurt's shirt was removed and the doctor washed his hands, then began peeling off Kurt's bandages.

"I know it stings, but its necessary. I'm sorry." The doctor apologized as he slowly pulled the several bandages off. The cut was 8 or 9 inches long around his side right under his arm. It looked incredibly painful and Blaine's heart fell to his stomach. The purple stitches stood out against the bright red incision and the surrounding very pale skin. "It's healing very well. I think we'll go ahead and take the stitches out today."

"Take them out?" Kurt asked hoarsely.

"Well they can't just stay there forever. I'll numb you first. It will feel weird, but you shouldn't feel that much pain at all." The doctor reassured him. "You'll probably feel better once they're out, too."

"I don't like this." Kurt moaned.

"I know, I know. It's the most dreaded part." The doctor washed his hands again and then cleaned Kurt's wound off. "Now how are your ribs feeling?"

Kurt touched an area low on his chest. "Right here is always really sore."

He looked at Kurt's chart. "That one was the worst. How about the other one? The one right above it?"

"It doesn't bother me as much." Kurt's voice was very soft. "It hurts to roll on that side at all though."

"You definitely want to avoid that. For at least another 3 weeks." He put a gel over Kurt's wound. "Ribs take about 6 weeks to heal when they're broken. That paired with your lung… I'd really rather you lay on your back. Now has your throat been sore? Running any fevers?"

"Not since I was home. Well, I had one small one two weeks ago but not since then." Kurt's eyes met Blaine's. "It's not that bad, Blaine. Stop looking like that."

Blaine just kind of swallowed. He couldn't keep himself from staring at the wound. It made his own side hurt just looking at it.

"Now lay back and I'll get these out for you. I just need you to be really still for me."

Kurt nodded and eased himself down. He didn't even speak, just looked up at the ceiling and gritted his teeth. He felt a weird sensation every time the doctor would pull a stitch out and it was quickly replaced with a burning sensation. By time the tenth stitch was removed Kurt began whimpering very softly.

"We're 1/3 of the way done, Kurt. Just stay still."

The closer Dr. Gibbons got to the center of his wound, the more painful it became. Blaine grabbed his hand and Kurt squeezed it so tightly it was painful.

"Half way there, Kurt." The doctor whispered comfortingly as he continued.

"How many are there?" Blaine asked quietly.

"36."

Kurt gripped Blaine's hand even harder, letting out a noise that was a mixture between a moan and a growl. "Oh god, it really hurts. Is it infected?"

"Oh no. The skin is just sensitive because it's healing."

Kurt blinked rapidly fighting tears that had come to his eyes involuntarily.

"You're doing a really good job, Kurt. I'm almost done, I promise. These last five will be very quick."

Kurt nodded, eyes meeting Blaine's. Blaine stroked his hair, his heart once again sinking to his stomach. Kurt shouldn't have to go through this. He was too kind, too beautiful, too perfect for this. The world was a truly awful place to hurt someone as amazing as Kurt Hummel.

"Alright, good boy. Sit up for me now."

Kurt did with Blaine's help.

"For the next three days, I want to keep you on your current painkillers. Starting Thursday I am going to switch you to Feverall. It's got less side effects but is also a little less powerful. If you take it Thursday morning and Friday night you feel awful, I want you to go back to the old ones Saturday morning and then have someone bring you in so we can find another type."

Kurt nodded.

"I think you'll like this one more. It won't make you feel loopy or light headed like the other one can. You probably won't feel up to being very active. Which brings me to my next thing. You need to get up and start walking. At least 4 times a day I want you to go outside and walk around your yard, walk down the street. You need to get out but you need to do so in moderation. If it's uncomfortable, keep going. If it gets painful you need to stop." He was now speaking to Blaine too, to make sure someone else understood as well. "I'm keeping you on the Prednisone. It's good for your lungs and making sure they heal correctly and it can help fight off any infections you may come into contact with. Without the other medicine, which caused lack of appetite, you'll probably be hungry a lot more. Plenty of water, plenty of juice. But really water, water, water. It's your best friend right now, Kurt."

Kurt nodded and tugged on his shirt.

"If you start hurting any more than you do now, you need to come see me. You're at the point where you should be feeling better daily. There won't be any good having two good days and one bad day. If you keep fairly active and fairly rested, then you should feel better." He handed the prescription to Blaine. "I'll want to see him back in 7-9 days."

This time it was Blaine's turn to nod. The doctor shook Blaine's hand and swiftly left the room.

"He forgot to lower the bed." Kurt whimpered, his lower lip sticking out.

"I'll get you down, baby." Blaine easily lifted him off of the bed and stood him up. "You okay?"

"I can't believe he took my stitches out… I was completely unprepared for that." Kurt whispered.

"You did very good! I would not have handled it nearly as well as you. I hate pain." Blaine said proudly as he helped Kurt out of the room. He had already paid for the visit, upon arriving, so he got Kurt out to the car.

"I was practically crying." Kurt sighed, buckled his seat belt, and was surprised at how much easier it was to move without his stitches in. If he'd done that earlier it would have felt like he was ripping them out. "I'm a big baby."

That statement took Blaine by surprise. The young man who had almost been killed in a vicious attack, who had been on life support for 14 hours, who had had emergency surgery to repair a lung, who had gone to the police, and who had handled everything with such dignity, was definitely not a baby. He tried to think of how to express that to Kurt but couldn't find the right words. He didn't have the chance to dwell on that fact though. His phone had began to ring.

"Probably my dad." Kurt laughed. "He's so impatient."

Blaine didn't recognize the number so he answered, "Hello?"

There was a reason he didn't recognize the number. It was his father's. "Blaine."

How could one word make someone so nervous? He didn't even think to turn on his car, he sat in stunned silence. He hadn't heard the voice in so long that he almost forgot what it sounded like. "Blaine, we're coming to get you. We're on our way to Lima right now."

"W-…"

"We know you're with that boy, Blaine, and we're coming to bring you home. Mother pulled some strings and we found you a nice internship to hold you over until you start UK back in the spring." His father's voice was very calm and professional. It sounded noting like a father talking to a son.

Blaine closed his eyes, mind having shut down. Bad. This was bad. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself. What were they doing? Why couldn't they just leave him alone? He hadn't answered the calls. Could they not take a hint?

"You can tell us the address or we'll go down to that garage. Either way, Blaine, you're going home with us." The way he said Blaine's name made his stomach churn. He sounded so disgusted.

"I'm 18, dad. You can't force me to come home. I'm an adult." That statement took every bit of courage Blaine had in him.

"You froze your bank accounts, withdrew from college so you could shack up in some gay boy's house and have sex, and had the nerve to ignore calls from your family. Does that sound like something an adult would do?"

He didn't understand. He just didn't _understand_. Blaine wasn't having sex with anyone. He was here to help Kurt. Kurt needed him. He froze his accounts and switched them because they were _his freaking accounts_. His money. _His_ money. "It's my life, dad." He tried to make his voice calm. It probably didn't come out that way. Kurt reached over and grabbed his hand.

"The way you're leading your perverse life has an effect on your entire family! You need to come to your senses or I'm going to cut you off."

"Cut me off from what? I don't need your money anymore! I've got my own money saved up. I'm going to get a job. I'm going to go back to school!" his voice came out much more hysterical than he wanted it to. This was just not the time. Not the time at all.

"Blaine, are you aware how much money you will inherit when your grandmother dies? 4.7 million dollars."

Kurt's mouth fell open, but Blaine didn't know if it was because of how rude of a statement it was or because of the amount of money it was.

"I don't want that money. I want nothing to do with you or mom or grandma. I don't care about your stupid _money_!" Blaine shouted into the phone. Had he really just done that? Oh god.

"Don't you raise your voice with me, you insolent good for nothing piece of shit! You will listen to me and you will listen to me _right now_. If you don't come home tonight I will go to that garage, I will find out from that fag's father where you are, and I will forcibly drag you out like the piece of trash that you are! Your mother and I have put up with this for far too long, Blaine. You're such a disappointment. You had soccer going for you until you joined that Fag School with that Asian freak! You think its normal, parading around with gay boys and singing in competitions? We should have left you in that public school and let those boys knock some _sense_ into you!"

Blaine just held the phone to his ear, staring off into space. Kurt pried the phone from his hands gently and snapped it shut. "No one has the right to talk to you that way." He said softly. "And no one will talk that way to you. Ever again. Let's go to the garage."

" _What_?" Blaine's eyes widened. No, no, no. This was going very bad very fast. That was where his father was bound to be heading.

"Blaine, let's go to the garage." Kurt repeated very calmly. "This ends today. It's done. Today. It's done."

"Kurt—."

"You won't let anyone hurt me again?"

"Of course I won't, Kurt. But this—."

"This is me returning the favor. If you don't drive, I'll drive myself. Either way, we will both end up at the garage. Either way, this is ending today."

"Ku—." He was touched, really. But Kurt had no idea who and what he was dealing with. Not even the slightest idea.

"No, Blaine." Kurt whispered. "This is _done_."

Blaine sighed and started the car, swallowing the knot in his throat.


	8. Chapter 8

They were too late. Blaine could see his father's empty Chrysler PT Cruiser parked outside of the garage. He hastily pulled into a parking spot and ran in. Kurt, who most certainly shouldn't have been walking on his own, followed as quickly as he could.

"Get out of here, Blaine." Burt was red in the face, as was his own father. His mother stood off to the side watching with a stupid expression on her face. Clearly some sort of altercation had already begun between the two men. "Blaine, go."

"Dad, you need to leave." Blaine said quietly. "I'm not going home. I'm staying here in Lima."

"My son is not going to live in _Lima_. And especially not drop out of school for a _boyfriend_. Have you lost your mind, Blaine?" The man looked very much like Blaine. He had the same hazel eyes, only his weren't light and didn't show kindness and love like Blaine's did. He had the same mouth, the same eye color. His nose he clearly inherited from his mother, as well as his beautiful hair. "Do you know what turmoil your grandmother is going through? If someone finds our you're _gay_ and a college dropout and you've run away to live with some _fag—"_

"I didn't run away! I'm 18 years old! I am an adult who is more the capable of mak—"

"Shut up! Don't you talk to me like that!" he walked towards Blaine, fist rising.

"Don't you touch him!" Kurt came up behind Blaine, tugging on his arm and pulling him back to him. "Come on, Blaine. Let my dad handle this."

"He would look like that, wouldn't he, Blaine?" his dad sneered. "You're such a disappointment. I wish you'd never been born. You've never been good for anything apart from a laugh. You're nothing but a piece of trash."

"Don't talk to him like that!" Kurt was shouting now, moving in front of Blaine. "Don't ever talk to him like that again!"

"You will never be good enough for an Anderson. Your father owns a garage, you don't even have a mother, and you look like a girl. You live in _Lima_. What makes you think you can ever be good enough for the grandson of Barbara Anderson? You're going to burn in hell and your father will too for letting you carry on with this perverse _thing_ it is that you are going." This was Blaine's mother talking.

"Who do you think you are, talking to my son like that? Or yours, for that matter?" Burt growled, coming towards Blaine's father.

At the same time, Blaine turned on his mother. "You're so stupid! You are _so_ stupid, mom! You aren't even religious. You go to church to keep up some stupid reputation! You've probably never opened a bible outside of church in your entire life!"

"If I ever hear you talk like that to your mother again—." Blaine's father angrily pushed him into the wall.

"Get off of him! You're a terrible excuse for a human being! He's your _son_!" Kurt exclaimed, struggling to pull Mr. Anderson away from his son with great difficulty. Blaine mentally reminded himself to never make Kurt that mad, because the look on his face was absolutely terrifying. Sure, he'd seen Kurt in his diva mode. This was something entirely different. "You will never be one quarter of the person that Blaine is! _I said get off of him_!"

"Get your hands off of me, you disgusting faggot!" Blaine's dad shouted angrily.

Burt launched towards the man but another mechanic pulled him roughly back. "You need to _leave_ , sir." The man holding a struggling Burt said loudly.

"You think you can tell _me_ what to do? How much do you make an hour? Lower than minimum wage probably with the looks of this place." He marched over to Blaine. "Come on. We're. Leaving."

Blaine mouthed wordlessly, feeling Kurt tugging his arm and whispering, "Let's go. Come on. It's okay. My dad can handle this."

"Don't touch my son!"

With one swift moment Blaine's father pulled Blaine from Kurt roughly and practically threw him behind him.

Poor, sweet Kurt seemed to snap. "Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are laying a hand on my boyfriend like that?"

Mr. Anderson turned to Blaine. "Go and get in the car now."

He'd thought of what he'd say when he finally saw his father again for a long time. All the sarcastic, well thought out, and perfect comments completely left his mind. Instead all he could see was his father pushing him that one day he'd been kicked out, almost down the stairs if he'd been two feet to the left. Now he could say nothing. All of that time spent thinking up the perfect thing and he couldn't recall anything.

"What can this _fag_ , give you? Are you serious? Look at this dump. Lima, Ohio? Are you that much of a loser, Blaine? You don't belong here. You won't tarnish the Anderson name with this behavior. We are a decent stand-up family!"

"Don't you talk to him that way and don't you talk about my son that way!" Burt shouted.

"I'd hardly call that a son."

Kurt, unphased and used to such comments about his gender, just moved past Blaine's father and went straight to Blaine. "We're go—" He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence.

"I told you to not touch my son!" Mr. Anderson yelled and pushed Kurt roughly in the chest exactly where , forty minutes before, he told the doctor still hurt him the most. The response was instantaneous. Kurt stumbled, eyes widening in shock, and fell back onto the floor. He kept looking between the two oldest men with big bright blue eyes. This time something in Blaine snapped and he pushed his father against the nearest wall with surprising force for someone as small as he was. He heard himself speaking but had no clue what he even said. His mind had turned itself off. He blindly raised his fist to punch his father but Burt broke free of his worker's grasp, pushed Blaine aside, and knocked his father onto the ground, throwing blows everywhere he could reach. Chaos had broke loose.

"Don't—you—ever—touch—my—son—again!" Blow after blow made a sickening noise. By then Mr. Anderson had started hitting back. It was a useless attempt though. Burt Hummel was a decent sized man and had used to play college football. Blaine's dad wouldn't have stood a chance in a fight and both men knew it.

Blaine's mother screamed and everyone went still.

"What did you _do,_ Mark? He's bleeding! You hurt that boy!" she looked terrified as she pointed to Kurt on the ground. She wasn't terrified for Kurt's health. No, she was just worried that someone would find out her husband had hurt a teenager. That wouldn't look good on the evening news, now would it?

"Get the fuck out of my garage." Burt growled, shoved the man towards the door, and ran to Kurt.

Blaine was already kneeling down by him, panting and brushing his hair back. Now he was panicking. Everything was happening so quickly and Blaine didn't know what to think, what to say, or most importantly what to do. "You're okay, Kurt. You're okay." Kurt nodded but coughed up blood. There was a lot of blood on his shirt already and he seemed to spit up more each time his mouth opened. Blaine was half crying. "You have to stay awake, okay? We're going to get you to the hospital right now."

Burt gently picked Kurt up and he cried out loudly. Blaine hadn't even heard him make a noise that distressed in the hospital and it tore his heart. "It's okay, kid. I've got to get you to the car."

"Not my car." Kurt moaned as he coughed up more blood. "My seats are too expensive to clean."

Blaine rushed into the parking lot, throwing the back seat door of his car open. He certainly didn't care about his car seats. He cared about Kurt and getting him help. His boyfriend's father followed shortly after, coming to a stop outside the car.

"I need you to sit back here on the floor and make sure he stays awake. Where are your keys?" Burt yanked off his jacket and put it on the seat, making a pillow out of it, and gently eased Kurt down. Kurt let out several whimpers, cringing.

Blaine's hands were almost shaking too hard to get them out of his pocket but he finally managed, passing them to Burt. He crawled onto the floor of his back seat and touched Kurt's face with shaking fingers. "K-Kurt…" He moaned, unable to think of anything else to say. "Why would you do that, Kurt?"

"He hurt you." He said the words so calmly, as if it was as simple as that.

_Oh god, if he dies it's going to be all your fault._

Blaine began to cry, grabbing Kurt's hand. He just sobbed even harder when Kurt squeezed his own hand back tightly. It only took ten minutes to reach the hospital and Kurt was immediately rushed back. Neither Burt nor Blaine was allowed to go back with him. Burt had put up a fight to that ("I'm his _father_!") but Kurt handled that news better than expected. Burt paced the floor angrily and Blaine couldn't help but notice that there was some of Kurt's blood on his shirt and hands. There was some on Blaine's as well. Kurt had been coughing up so much blood.

Blaine sat in the corner of the waiting room, beside himself with grief and unable to make his sobs subside. Burt continued pacing, even after Carole arrived. She immediately hugged her husband and the two had a short conversation before she came over, sitting quietly by Blaine.

"Hi sweetie." She whispered. He just put his hand over his mouth and let out a particularly loud sob, which was only made worse when he saw Kurt's blood on the palm of his hand. He hadn't seen it there before. Kurt's blood was everywhere. Carole wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pulling him close and rocking him. "He's going to be fine."

"N-n-no he w-won't!" Blaine sobbed. All he could think of was Kurt's wide eyes as he coughed up blood. His soft 'oh.' How Kurt grabbed his hand in the car trying to _comfort_ him when he was the one coughing up gallons of blood. "T-There was _s-so_ much blood."

"Shh." She continued rocking him and stroking hair. "Kurt's a fighter."

Blaine looked up as a man in blue scrubs came in. He quieted his sobs really fast because he needed to hear what was going on. "It looked worse than it is. His lung was not re-punctured." Blaine and Carole hear him say. Burt gave a huge sigh of relief. "There is some internal bleeding, though. It's why he was coughing up that blood. His rib was badly fractured in the fall and it caused some internal bleeding. I don't know the logistics of that, but his surgeon will be able to better explain it. Your son was rushed into surgery a few minutes ago just to make sure it doesn't get worse, but it really could have waited. We didn't want to run the risk of him going into shock or getting an infection in his chest. The surgeon is going to fix him up. It'll probably take an hour and a half. He's going to be just fine."

Burt let out another relieved sigh and nodded.

The doctor continued on. "He didn't go into shock, which was the biggest worry we had. He remained conscious the whole time he was being examined and all of his vitals were really very good. The fact that he's already healing from his previous surgery may make the process a last little longer, but we'll have to just cross that road when we get to it… We really couldn't have asked for a better outcome here, though. You should be able to visit him right after he's brought out of surgery."

"Thanks." Burt nodded and made his way over to sit on Blaine's other side. He reached over and put a comforting hand on the younger boy's shoulder.

Blaine took several deep breaths and furiously rubbed at his eyes. He clenched his fists and just looked down and his knees not trusting himself to speak. He just kept seeing his father push Kurt down, push his chest right where he knew Kurt was hurting. Something had snapped. It was like he wasn't even human anymore when he saw that happen. Something else had taken over.

"I want you to…" Burt began.

Move out? Leave Kurt? End their relationship? Blaine felt himself visibly paling, but he couldn't blame Burt. Not after what his father had just done to Kurt. But how was he going to live without Kurt, without hearing his laugh every day? Or seeing how grumpy he got when Blaine tried to mess up his hair or, even worse, take his hair products away so he couldn't fix it in the first place? It was the small things that stood out the most in Blaine's mind. Because all of the small things weren't really small things at all. Not when it came to Kurt.

"Go wash up and get some water. You look like hell and it will just stress Kurt out if he sees you like this." Burt finished.

Blaine felt himself give an almost robotic nod and he stood, heading straight to the bathroom. It was sad that he'd been here enough to know exactly where it was.

He _never_ would have taken Kurt to the garage, had he known… never. His father had pushed him that way, but it was under much different circumstances. To push someone like that… that he didn't even _know?_ Blaine was never talking to them again. _Never_. There was no going back from this. He didn't care if they ever realized how wrong they were. He would never, ever, _ever_ forgive them for doing this to Kurt. He washed his hands first, watching the bloody water go down the drain. He would never forgive himself for bringing Kurt into the situation either. He never should have listened to Kurt because he'd just had that feeling in his stomach. He knew something was going to happen. What else could have happened, after all? A nice family reunion? He wet a napkin and wiped some blood off of his cheek and neck. He also tugged off his shirt and tossed it into the trash leaving him in only a white t-shirt. He couldn't do anything about the blood on his pants, but there were less copious amounts there and it was less likely to freak Kurt out. Less likely to freak Blaine out, though, honestly. Every time he saw Kurt's blood on him his stomach seemed to do a complete 180 degrees flip.

He sniffled loudly and splashed water onto his face. He really did look like hell and he couldn't remember the last time he had cried so hard. If he ever had, even. He sat there, just staring at the mirror but not really seeing anything for what felt like hours. The door opened and he He looked up when Burt entered the bathroom. "Are you alright?" the man asked gruffly.

No. "Yes."

Burt gave him a look similar to the one he'd given Blaine when he had asked Blaine if he were gay. He was trying to read him. He gave a small nod. "Alright then. You've been in here for a long time, though."

"Have I?" Blaine's voice didn't even sound like his own.

"Carole said I should check on you. I'd been debating it myself too actually…" Burt sighed and washed his own hands. "This doesn't change anything, kid. You're still welcome at our house. Whether you know it or not, the second you rushed into this hospital at 4 am last month you… you became a part of this family, Blaine."

"It's my fault."

Burt looked at him, completely shocked. "How? How is any of this your fault? Kurt reacted in a way that _anyone_ would in that situation. He tried to protect you, the same way you've been protecting him since the day you two met. I _know_ , Blaine. I know how much you're there for my son and how deeply you care for him. _You love him_. To say it was your fault would mean to say you pushed him down yourself. Some people just have shitty people for parents, kid. I know you didn't think that would happen. Nobody thinks you secretly wanted this to happen. None of this is your fault and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you never have to see any of them again. This ends tonight."

Kurt had said those exact words and Blaine would have smiled if he'd felt any better. The two were more alike than they knew and it was very obvious. Instead, Blaine just gave one small nod.

"Are you hungry?" Burt put an arm around his shoulder and led him out of the bathroom. "I'm starving."

"A little." Blaine whispered, looking down.

Burt gave him a small squeeze and sat him down once they reached the familiar cafeteria, saying he'd be right back. Blaine looked around. There were people of every age seated in there. Some were very cheerful and chattering away with the people they sat with as they ate. Some looked exhausted, worn down, and barely touched their food. Blaine knew how they felt. Burt fairly quickly with two plates, sitting down. "Carole had eaten before I called… she's going to stay and call me if they come out, so take your time. Eat some. You'll probably feel a little better. Plus, who knows when we'll get the chance to come down here again."

Blaine nibbled on the roll and sipped his apple juice. Burt was right. He did begin to feel a little better. He sat up a little straighter as he continued eating the contents of the plate. He didn't eat everything—he was much too anxious for that. Burt ate everything on his plate and looked around, not wanting to rush Blaine. Blaine cleared his plate anyway. "We should get back. I don't want to miss the doctor." He whispered.

Burt nodded, tossing his own plate into the trash. The two walked in silence back to the fitting room and took their previous seats.

Carole reached over, giving Blaine a hug. "You look much better, sweetheart. I'm glad."

Blaine wasn't used to being treated this way when something was wrong by his parents. He always had to go to his room and either wait out the sadness or find some way cheer himself up. Is that what the two did with Kurt? When he was younger, and his mom in the hospital, did Burt take his son to the cafeteria and eat with him? Walk with his arm around him comfortingly? No, Kurt was so small that Blaine was sure he had carried Kurt. Burt just seemed the type to have carried Kurt around until he was too big. "I feel better." He responded quietly.

Another doctor approached them, this one also in scrubs. He looked very cheerful. "Burt Hummel?"

Burt stood and nodded. "How's my boy?"

"He's going to be just fine. He's being wheeled into recovery now. Once he's settled you all can come back and see him. He'll be asleep a little while longer, though." The doctor was smiling.

"How did the surgery go?"

"Very well. I would say he'll probably be kept for three days. His condition is serious, but in no way critical. Tonight will probably be a little rough, but I expect by tomorrow afternoon he'll be acting like normal. He'll be in much less pain than he was from his last surgery because his lung wasn't operated on. That being said, he is going to be on some less powerful painkillers. I'd like to keep him off the Oxycodone if at all possible this time around. It's easy to become dependent on that drug."

"He'll be comfortable though?"

The man nodded. "Yes, we'll be putting him on another similar medication that isn't quite so addictive. We'll do everything to make him comfortable. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or anybody up in the Recovery Ward. He'll probably stay there for a few hours and then be moved into a room upstairs for the remainder of his stay. Someone will come and take you to him as soon as he's settled."

Burt nodded and shook his hand. "Thank you for taking care of my son."

"My pleasure." The man patted his shoulder and left the room.

"Oh thank God." Carole was the first to speak. "I don't know if the poor thing could have handled another two weeks in this place."

Blaine felt some of the knots in his stomach leaving. The surgery was over. Kurt was going to be completely fine. After his first surgery, the doctor had not looked quite so positive. Everything was going to be just fine. Kurt wasn't going to die. In fact, he'd completely recover. He let out a big sigh of relief and felt as though he was able to breathe again.

"I'll call the garage and let the boys know after we see him." Burt sighed. "Jeff likes Kurt, I know he'll be worried."

"Finn should be on his way. He was leaving from Cincinnati when we got off the phone. He's bringing Puck." Carole added, nodding. "Puck will probably drive. I think Finn is freaking out a bit. He really feels like Kurt's his baby brother now, you know."

Blaine listened to their small talk until a smiling nurse came into te waiting room. "You all can come see him now. We just got him settled in."

The three of them stood, following her back into the familiar recovery ward. Kurt's bed was at the back this time. That had to be a good sign. It meant he didn't need as much observing, Blaine thought to himself.

"You're awake, sweetheart!" Carole rushed over as soon as she saw that his eyes were open. He looked so small and pale on the bed and his bright blue eyes stood out. He smiled a bit, his eyes lighting up even more. He was hooked up to less machines than last time and it made standing next to him much less intimidating and scary.

"How do you feel, kid?" Burt leaned over him. Kurt's mouth moved as he spoke but his voice was so soft that Carole and Blaine couldn't make out what he said. Burt pushed his hair back, listening intently, and then nodded. "They did surgery on you. You had some internal bleeding, but it wasn't from your lung. You're going to be just fine." Kurt's mouth moved again and Burt let out a small laugh. "No, just a few days. Don't worry, kid." He looked up, grinning. "He said he was going to spoon his eyes out if he had to stay in one of these tacky looking rooms for another two weeks."

Carole laughed. "Well there you are. We have nothing to worry about. He's going to be just fine." She pulled up a chair and sat down.

Burt squeezed Kurt's shoulder and stepped aside, going to the other side of the room and pulling over two more chairs. Blaine stepped closer taking in Kurt's appearance. He really looked the same as he had earlier that morning as they left the doctor's office, only a little paler. There was an IV in his arm and he was hooked up to three machines, but that sure as hell beat the eight that he was hooked up the last time Blaine saw him in that very recovery room.

Kurt's spoke again but Blaine wasn't close enough to hear. He was afraid to get too close because he didn't want to hurt his boyfriend anymore. He had to lean down, though, to hear what Kurt had said. "What, babe?" His voice sounded much better than he'd thought it would. He was still fighting the urge to cry, but Burt had said he had to hold it together. He didn't want to stress Kurt out. Not now, when he was like this.

"I love you." Kurt repeated, blue eyes meeting his. His voice was still very soft, barely above a whisper. He sounded very weak.

"Oh, Kurt, I love you too." He bent down and pressed a kiss to Kurt's forehead. "So, so much… how do you feel?"

"Light… it doesn't hurt this time." His eyes closed. "Do that again."

Blaine kissed his forehead again. "That?"

Kurt smiled a bit and fell asleep.

He stood there, hunched over, for several minutes. He didn't want to move from Kurt because he was afraid he would wake up and try to say something else. Kurt shouldn't have to repeat himself when he was so weak and tired.

Eventually Burt touched his shoulder. "I got you a chair. Sit down. He's asleep now."

"I know." Blaine whispered, eyes not leaving Kurt.

"Just sit. He could be like this for a while."

It took a few more minutes before Burt finally coaxed Blaine into sitting down. He put both hands on the armrests, staring at his boyfriend. Kurt seemed to sense that he had moved from his bedside. He shifted several times, let out a few noises, and his fingers began to flex. Blaine reached over and grasped his hand. Kurt immediately settled down and his hand firmly squeezed Blaine's. Blaine felt his heart rise. The last time they'd been in this room and he'd held Kurt's hand, there had been no response from the younger boy. His hand had just remained limp. Was that what Kurt had wanted? Had he wanted Blaine to hold his hand? Well, Blaine wasn't going to let go. Not until Kurt pulled his hand away and even then, Blaine thought, he'd probably just take hold of the small hand again. He wasn't going to leave Kurt's side, not for anything, until the boy was sent home. Nobody was talking him into going home to get some rest and shower. All that mattered right now was holding Kurt's hand.

Everyone looked up as the door opened. Finn and another boy ran in quietly. Blaine of course knew Finn, but he didn't know Puck. He had seen Puck at competitions, he'd seen pictures of him and the rest of the glee club, and he occasionally even had seen Puck comment on mutual friends Facebook statuses and pictures. He'd never actually met the guy though.

"What's going on? Is he okay? What happened?" Finn asked worriedly.

Carole stood, holding a finger to her lips. "Kurt's sleeping. Come on, I'll tell you in the hall."

She led the boys into the hall and Blaine felt a rush of gratitude. He didn't know if he could have listened to her tell the events of a few hours ago with Blaine's father. And his sweet, sweet Kurt standing up for him. Kurt's hand loosened slightly, and then the fingers squeezed again.

"I'm still right here." Blaine whispered, returning the squeeze. "It's okay."

"I hate hospitals." Burt sighed and rested his elbows on his knees, then buried his face in his hands.

Blaine didn't know what to say. Burt _must_ hate hospitals, he thought. This was the second time in a month his son had been rushed into surgery. Not to mention he was sure it reminded him of Kurt's mother. He knew that the last few weeks of Kurt's mother's life were spent in a hospital. Being here again had to bring back old memories.

The two sat in silence until the door opened again. Carole, Finn, and the boy that could only be Puck made their way towards the back of the recovery ward. Finn dragged a chair over noisily, as did Puck.

"Blaine, this is Puck. Puck, this is Kurt's boyfriend Blaine." Finn said, plopping in his chair. He looked much more cheerful and much less anxious. Blaine wished his worries had gone away that fast.

Blaine reached with his free hand and(somewhat awkwardly) shook Puck's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." Puck firmly shook his hand and took a seat by Finn. "So, man, I'm kind of glad we got out of running laps. Maybe we can stay here a few days."

"I don't know, dude. I guess we'll just have to see how Kurt's feeling. Coach won't like it if we don't go back soon, though." Finn responded.

Normally he wouldn't have minded the talking but by the time Finn and Puck had been talking for twenty minutes, Blaine began to get annoyed. Maybe it was because Kurt had started shifting again and Blaine couldn't help but think all of the chattering was bothering him. Maybe it was because they seemed so happy, which seemed very wrong. They were in a hospital recovery ward and acting like they were just glad to be out of school. Like it was a nice little field trip. It wasn't a field trip. Kurt was seriously hurt. Then again, Blaine was probably just being overly sensitive because he was stressing out. He just wished that they would shut up so he could sulk in silence.

"Puckerman, they can hear you across the hall. Shut up." Kurt suddenly moaned, eyes not opening.

"They probably can!" Finn laughed loudly.

"You too, Finn. No one cares about what color shorts you wear to jog."

Blaine felt himself smiling. _You tell 'em, Kurt_ , he thought.

"Let's just talk a little quieter so Kurt can sleep. He needs his rest." Carole whispered. "Go on back to sleep, Kurt."

Her words were useless because Kurt had already fallen asleep again, hand still tightly squeezing Blaine's.

* * *

"Kurt, good morning!" Carole said the next morning coming into the room. "I just went to get some coffee. Do you want me to go grab you something?"

Blaine looked up from his seat by the bed. When had Kurt woken up and sat up? Blaine had just looked at that bed three minutes earlier before glancing up at the news.

"I probably shouldn't be awake or drinking coffee." Kurt said cheerfully, getting a silly little grin on his face. "I don't know what they gave me but whatever it is is am _azing_.""

"How do you feel? Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I feel am _azing_. That's my word of the day. Am _azing_." Kurt drew out the end of the word. Burt leaned over him and whispered something. "That's am _azing_ , Dad."

Burt laughed and patted his head.

Blaine took a deep breath. He knew Kurt was absolutely adorable when he was drugged up on painkillers, but it still tore him up inside that his boyfriend was going through this. Again. And this time he was to blame. He attempted a smile when Kurt looked his way. "Hi, my love."

Kurt gave him a big smile that warmed his entire heart. "I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too." Blaine whispered, touching his face. He kissed him very quickly. "So, so much. Are you feeling okay?"

Kurt nodded adorably. "Much better."

"I'm sorry, Kurt. So sorry."

Kurt leaned over and blinked at him. "For what?"

Blaine kissed him again several times; first on the lips, then the nose, then each cheek, then his forehead, and finally the top of his head. "Nothing, Kurt. Nothing." He said softly.

"You're in good hands, Kurt. I'm going to go make a few phone calls and let everyone know you're okay. I put it off last night because I didn't want to leave you." Burt said, patting Kurt's shoulder and then standing.

"Alright, pops!" Kurt waved as his father left the room laughing.

"I would hate to see Kurt drunk." Carole laughed. "Finn and Puck are down in the cafeteria still."

"I got drunk once. I ruined a pair of $300 shoes." Kurt said very seriously. "And then I threw up on a guidance counselor. Then my dad picked me up from school and bought me ice cream. Don't tell Dad those shoes were $300…"

Carole laughed again. "That's not how I heard the story. I heard you lost your car for two months."

"He'd already taken the car because he found my tiara collection." Kurt babbled, waving his hand. "It's okay though because I stole it back. It's very safe." He turned to Blaine. "I trust you. Do you want to know where it is?"

Blaine was torn between feeling sad and amused. He hated seeing Kurt this way, especially because he felt at fault. But he was just so damn adorable.

"It's at Mercedes' house." He just continued on, not even waiting for an answer. "Well, it should be. In her closet. She's got a big closet, Blaine. It's, like, _huge_." He held out his arms. "I want a closet that big, Blaine. And a swing. Can we have a swing?" Blaine opened his mouth to say that yes, Kurt could have whatever he wanted, but Kurt just kept on talking. "I always liked strawberries, you know. They're so versatile. You can eat them by themselves, in pop tarts, in toaster strudels, in a pie, on top of cheesecake, _on top_ of a pie, with ice cream, dipped in chocolate, dipped in sugar, dipped in chocolate and _then_ dipped in sugar, in fruit salad, with whip cream, dipped in Nuttela, dipped in white chocolate, in a milk shake, on a sundae, in a bowl! You know I bet you could put it in a cup and eat it there too. Once I put cereal in a cup, Blaine, because dad didn't wash the dishes. Well, he never does. _Anyway_ , as I was saying, I really like strawberries."

Blaine just kind of started at him as if he'd grown two heads.

"No! I'm so dumb! I was talking about my cup of cereal. Well I put my cereal in a cup and then I tried to eat it from the cup. You know, like, I held the cup up in my mouth?" he demonstrated. "But all the cereal fell on my face."

Blaine felt himself starting to smile, despite how upset he still was. "Is that so?" he asked softly.

"Yeah." Kurt sighed like a little kid. "I smelled like honey, like, all day."

"Well honey smells good."

"You smell good, Blaine. You smell like Blaine." He relaxed his pillows. "And I smell like Kurt and Carole smells like Carole and Daddy smells like Daddy."

"What on earth is he rambling about?" Burt asked, coming back into the room. "I called everyone."

"I believe Kurt was talking about how nice Blaine smells." Carole answered.

"You called _everyone?_ Did you call Ghostbusters?" Kurt questioned, his eyebrow raised.

"Somehow I think I forgot to call them." Burt said with a serious expression.

"I saw a ghost once. He was my friend. He and Wendy. She was a witch. But then she turned into Lizzie McGuire. She wasn't so cute then, dad. Ethan was really cute though, wasn't he? His hair was, like, _perfect_. And his secret was don't repeat. How genius is that? Do you think some people see that and just never stop washing their hair because it tells them to repeat? Do you think some people stay in the shower forever?" his words became faster the more he spoke. It was beginning to give Blaine a headache. How in the world was Kurt's mind going that fast? He hadn't been this talkative after his first surgery. Then again, it had been much more intensive.

"Okay, okay. Let's get you lying down." Burt leaned down to help him move.

"I don't want to lay down, dad. Ghostbuster's don't lie down. I've got to go warn Casper and Wendy." Kurt protested, shaking his head.

"I'll go warn Casper and Wendy, kid. You just need to go to sleep."

Kurt's eyes were already beginning to droop. "But you can't see Casper. Adults can't see Casper. And he's friendly, dad. He's a friendly ghost and they want to shoot him. Shoot him dead."

Burt pushed Kurt's hair back. "I won't let anyone shoot Casper, son."

"They already shot Bambi's mom. They'll get him too, Dad. I can't sleep. I have to save h—." he finally fell silent.

"Has this kid got a mouth on him or _what_? He hasn't been this hyper off of medicine since that time when he was five and he jumped out of the window and bit the mailman." Burt shook his head.

"Kurt did _what_?" Blaine couldn't help himself from laughing at this. "He… jumped out the window and bit the mail man?"

"He went through this phase where he thought he was a dog. His mother encouraged it." He rolled his eyes. "He got strep and the doctor put him on this cough syrup. He's always reacted very strangely to medicines. He can handle Tylenol and that's about it. But he's a healthy kid, so it's never really led to problems before."

"He thought he was a dog when he was five?" How had Blaine not found this out already? Could his boyfriend be any more adorable? No, he couldn't. It would be hard to top this story.

Burt sighed. "He wanted a dog. We told him no. He _thought_ if he pretended to be a dog that we'd want one too. We just thought it was funny. But he's a weird kid and part of me thinks he talked himself into thinking he was a dog."

"Did he ever get his dog?" Blaine asked.

Burt shook his head. "Nope. The only thing he ever didn't get, too. Kid's been spoiled rotten since the day he was born."

Blaine laughed quietly, mentally noting that he was going to buy Kurt a puppy when they moved out together.

"Kurt's still spoiled. Only now _both_ of you spoil him. I don't know what on Earth he'll do if he goes off to college away from Blaine." Carole stated, squeezing Burt's hand.

"He'd manage." Burt said gruffly. "He may be spoiled, but he's always been very independent. Half of the time _he_ was the one taking care of _me_. The kid was making dinner for the both of us by the time he was eleven."

"He's a good boy. Finn's just rotten." Carole laid her head on Burt's shoulder and yawned.

"I'm not that bad. I made dinner last night, mom!" Finn scoffed, coming in.

"Dude, you made a microwavable cup of macaroni and cheese." Puck snorted.

"Well I didn't know how to use the microwave until a few weeks ago."

"You made a microwavable cup of macaroni and cheese and _burnt it_."

Carole rolled her eyes. "Oh, Finn, you didn't. Did you?"

"I thought macaroni and cheese was supposed to be crunchy." Finn said, looking very confused.

Burt coughed suddenly, but Blaine was pretty sure he had started to laugh but hadn't wanted to look rude.

"Alright, boys. I think we should go home. Kurt will probably be asleep for a while and I'm tired." Carole said, standing up. "Plus, I should probably show you how to make microwavable macaroni and cheese cups. If Kurt finds out about this, he'll give me another talk about how you're going to end up homeless. The sad thing is, Finn, I'm starting to think he may have a point." She gave Burt a kiss and then kissed the top of Blaine's head. "Can I bring anything back for you? A change of clothes, a book?"

Blaine looked at her and shook his head. "No, but thanks."

"Cheer up, sweetie. He's going to be just fine and none of this is your fault. Plus, I miss that smile." She kissed his cheek. "We'll be back later, you two."

"Bring me back some KFC. Only set it in the hall. I'll sneak out and eat it if Kurt's awake. He'll raise nine kinds of hell if he sees me eating it." Burt called after her. He was quiet for a few minutes before muttering, "Now I really want to watch that Ghostbusters movie. Remind me to ground him when he wakes up."


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm fine, Blaine."

"Just let me help you." Blaine said quietly, putting his hands out.

"I'm. Fine. Blaine." Kurt saw the look on Blaine's face and added a bite more gently, "I promise. I am perfectly capable of getting out of bed myself."

"The doctor said—"

"To help me when I ask for it." Kurt slid easily out of the hospital bed. "And if I feel like I need help, I'll ask you. It'd be very romantic if I felt as though I was going to pass out and you caught me."

Blaine rolled his eyes and took Kurt's hand. "Just around the floor once."

"You're worse than my dad." Kurt laughed squeezing his hand and leaning against him. It was his third day at the hospital and he was supposed to get up and walk around every four hours for a few minutes. He had also been taken off of the more powerful painkillers now and was more or less back on his regular medicinal regimen. That didn't stop Blaine from fussing over him every chance he got though. Kurt appreciated it but he really didn't want to be treated like a baby.

"I just feel bad." Blaine admitted.

"If you feel _that_ bad you could always get me a puppy."

Blaine grinned. "Or you could just pretend to be one."

Kurt stopped mid-step and slowly looked at him, eyes widening in horror. "Oh my god, Dad didn't."

"You _jumped out a window and bit a mail man_?" Blaine sounded incredibly excited as he said this, as if he'd been waiting for ages to finally bring it up. The boy probably had, too.

He had more important thing to worry about, though. He was in shock. Why did his dad think he could go around and tell people embarrassing stories like that? He'd have rather Burt show Blaine his naked baby pictures than _this_. At least naked baby pictures were cute. "Why is my life so terrible?" he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's adorable. As I've told you a million times, _you're_ adorable." Blaine faced him.

No. Blaine was wrong. It was embarrassing. There was absolutely nothing adorable about jumping out a window and biting a mail man. He was going to kill his father when he had the energy to do so.

"Oh, don't give me that _puppy dog_ look."

Kurt reached out and punched his arm lightly. "You are not cute, Blaine Anderson." Who was Kurt kidding? Of course he was cute. Blaine knew it too; he had to know he turned heads everywhere he went. He just had this "I'm cute/sexy/adorable/take-me-home" look about him. That was why Kurt refused to go out to any sort of gay bar with him. He didn't want his boyfriend getting picked up.

"Well, do you know what is cute? Puppies." Blaine kept on grinning. "Especially ones with bright blue eyes."

"I hate you." Kurt muttered, cheeks going red.

"Such a big word for someone so tiny." His older boyfriend started up walking again, the silly grin still plastered on his perfect face.

"Wait for me!" Kurt grumbled, catching up to him. "And don't make any more dog references for the rest of the day… You met the quota."

"For now." Blaine agreed, wrapping his arm around Kurt's shoulder carefully. "You feeling okay? Need a break?"

"No." Kurt glared at him. "You aren't getting my extra mashed potatoes tonight now, I hope you know. I'm going to give them to Finn."

"If you'll withhold mashed potatoes over this, I hate to see what will make you withhold sex." Blaine looked incredibly amused.

_Oh god._ Kurt blushed again. He still blushed when he thought about sex with Blaine. They had only had sex once, the night before Blaine had gone back to Kentucky several weeks before. Blaine had, of course, been very patient and gentle with Kurt. It wasn't that Kurt hadn't enjoyed the sex or anything. He just couldn't believe that he, Kurt Hummel, had had _sex_. He had had _sex_ with Blaine Anderson. It wasn't real. Sometimes Kurt wondered if he'd made it all up in his head. Maybe it had just been a vivid dream.

"Kurt's getting all flustered." Blaine whispered in his ear.

"I really hate you." Kurt looked up at him, breathing a bit more heavily.

"No. You really love me."

"Damn you." Kurt whispered, heart pounding, as their eyes met. He watched his boyfriend's hand move to cup his face.

Another grin slowly spread across his face. "The way you—."

"Shut up!" Kurt smacked his shoulder as a doctor walked past and hissed in a whisper. "Someone might hear you _harassing_ me."

"You say this as you hit me."

"I enjoyed you better sulking." Kurt sighed and then pouted.

Blaine touched his bottom lip, eyes not leaving Kurt's. He bit his own lip and tilted his head slightly. "Have I told you how pretty your eyes are lately, Kurt?" he asked softly.

"No. And, for the record, I'll still be mad at you after you do."

Blaine leaned in and kissed him gently, stroking his cheek. Kurt's arms went around Blaine's waist and he closed his eyes, contently sighing into Blaine's lips. Blaine tried to pull away a few times, but Kurt wouldn't let him. He needed this. He needed to kiss Blaine, to feel Blaine's calloused fingers stroking his face, to feel all of the thousands of emotions put into that one simple kiss.

When Blaine finally pulled away Kurt was panting slightly. His blue eyes opened and peered into Blaine's hazel ones. "Blaine…" he whispered softly.

"Kurt?"

It was as if the two of them weren't just standing there in the corner of a hospital hall way. It was as if they were in Kurt's bedroom, the door closed, in an empty house. Before the attack, before everything changed.

Kurt pressed his forehead against Blaine's, frowning. He wished he could go back in time and stop everything from happening… but Blaine was here now and if he hadn't been attacked there would still be another three weeks before he'd see his boyfriend. "I miss being close to you."

"You go home tomorrow morning… we'll cuddle all day in your bed and watch whatever you want to. Even Teen Mom. I'll watch Teen Mom with you and I _hate_ that show." Blaine whispered, trying to cheer him up.

Kurt nodded, shuffling closer to Blaine. He wanted nothing more than to go home _now_. If he'd been home now he would have even let Blaine watch ESPN. He could curl up, head resting on Blaine's lap, and feel Blaine's finger's running through his hair. As much as he hated his hair being messed with, he had become accustomed to it by this point. He didn't know how he would break Blaine of the habit. Perhaps they'd have to come up with an agreement. Blaine only did it _before_ he fixed his hair, and _after they_ were home would not be leaving again. If no one else saw his hair less than perfect, maybe he could handle it. _Maybe_. He could promise nothing. "Let's go back to my room. You can watch the football game." He said, feeling rather affectionate.

"What a turnaround from someone who was hitting me three minutes ago!" Blaine laughed, kissing his face. "We can head back but you can pick what we watch on TV."

"You've been complaining about my show choices since yesterday morning, Blaine. You better take this opportunity when it comes up because it won't happen a lot."

"Fine. Thank God. I've missed like three Buckeyes games and it just isn't the same watching them online." Blaine seemed to move very quickly back towards the hospital room.

Kurt pouted again, not even trying to keep up. Blaine was a few feet ahead when he realized Kurt wasn't at his side, still having been babbling about football, and he turned to look at Kurt sheepishly. "Yeah, you better give me that look." Kurt pretended to glare at him.

"Sorry. You really should have got me back to the room and then told me." He smiled at Kurt adorably.

Kurt grabbed his bigger hand as soon as he was close enough to do so. "And you can have my extra mashed potatoes again, I guess. I only ask for them for you anyway."

"Has Christmas come early for me today or what? I get to eat now _and_ watch football." Blaine held the hospital room door open for his boyfriend to walk through. They kept it closed because Kurt got rather freaked out any time some little kid would burst into his room. It had happened several times, too.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just help me into bed, you buffoon." Kurt rolled his eyes.

Blaine carefully raised him up to the bed and then eagerly reached for the remote. "It's just starting even."

_Oh, great,_ Kurt thought. He scooted over as far as he could on the bed and then patted the spot by him. "Lay with me?

Blaine nodded and got onto the bed, eyes not even leaving the screen. Kurt situated himself so his arm was draped against Blaine's waist and his head was rested on his chest. Almost immediately Blaine's hand went to his back rubbing small circles. Kurt listened to the game and knew exactly what was going on—considering his dad used to play college football, he knew more about the sport than he'd ever admit. It was really weird, too, considering that his older stepbrother was now on the same team his dad had played for. Which also happened to be Blaine's favorite team. It was funny how things happened. Kurt wondered if Blaine even _knew_ Burt used to play for the Buckeyes. He was pretty sure he didn't, and he was even surer he'd freak out when he found out.

"Does Finn play in games yet?" he asked, although he knew that Finn had yet to play in a game ever. He really just wanted to feel somewhat involved.

"No. He's not gotten much field time. He probably will next year." Blaine's fingers went to his hair. "You're not hurting your side lying like that are you?"

Kurt looked up to see Blaine looking down at him. He felt himself smile as he shook his head. "I feel fine. I told you, I've not been in that much pain this time around. This cut was a lot smaller. I've also already told you about five million times that when it starts to hurt I'll let you know."

Blaine pulled him closer, returning his attention to the screen. Kurt stroked Blaine's side absent mindedly as he listened to Blaine's heartbeat, smirking a bit when the beats sped up almost instantly after his finger's found a patch of Blaine's bare skin.

Shortly after half time the door opened slowly. Blaine pulled his eyes from the screen to look at the door as Burt made his way in.

"Oh yay!" Kurt sat up straight, clapping. "The new issue of Vogue!"

"Be careful there, kid." Burt said anxiously, passing the magazine over. "I'm afraid you're going to pull stitches out or something.

Kurt sighed, becoming annoyed. Everyone was treating him like a baby. He knew everyone just wanted to make sure he was okay, but he wished that they would trust _him_ to know what his body could handle. At least the doctors didn't hover over him all the time. _They_ knew that Kurt was perfectly fine sitting up, getting off of a bed by himself, _going to the bathroom alone_. It was his top goal to never end up in the hospital again. Not only did Kurt realize it made Blaine a complete wreck and his father a complete basket case, but it also made Kurt grumpy when people treated him this way. He opened the magazine to the first page.

"I've made you mad, haven't I?" Burt laughed.

"It's not funny." Kurt frowned. "I feel fine. I appreciate some babying but between the two of you, it's getting to be unbearable. I'm considering locking myself alone in my room when I get home just so I can remember what it's like to _not_ have someone attached to my side."

Blaine looked rather wounded at that statement and Kurt wished he could take it back. That wasn't what he'd meant, really. He just wanted some independence. Apparently that was not a possibility when in the hospital.

"Fine then. Do you want to stay alone at the hospital tonight?" Burt asked.

"No!" The answer was instantaneous.

"Then quit whining. I'm sure Blaine would like sleep that wasn't in a hard chair and you could be a little more grateful." Burt grunted, taking a seat. He turned his own attention to the game and Kurt looked down at the magazine, tears stinging his eyes.

He felt Blaine rest his hand on Kurt's back, rubbing up and down. He sniffled quietly and some of the tears fell. Blaine pressed a kiss to the side of his head and whispered, "It's okay."

Kurt nodded and wiped his eyes, feeling very childish. "I'm sorry I'm g-grumpy." He sniffled a little louder as more tears spilled over. His father was right to try to put him in his place, but Kurt didn't like it very much.

"We know it's the Prednisone. It's okay." Blaine reassured him, pressing another kiss to the side of his boyfriend's head.

Kurt didn't deserve Blaine Anderson. He really didn't. Blaine tugged him closer and whispered sweet nothings in his ear after Kurt was mean to him? Who else in the world was that amazing? That kind? It made Kurt begin to cry even more, burrowing his face in Blaine's chest. He hated this medicine. He _hated_ it. He hated feeling like he had to depend on something like a stupid pill to function properly. He didn't know how long he'd have to be on the medicine, but he hoped it wasn't very long. He wasn't sure he could take being an asshole and gaining a pound a week much longer.

Blaine wiped Kurt's eyes and gave him a small smile. "Just take a nap. Maybe you'll feel better when you wake up."

"I feel like when you tell me to go to sleep you're sick of me." More tears filled Kurt's eyes. He really did feel that way sometimes. Everyone always wanted him to sleep. Was he that awful to be around?

"That's not it at _all_ , Kurt." His voice was soft and sincere."I just know you always feel better after you've had some sleep. You're supposed to be getting a lot of rest. I'm afraid you're trying to jump into things too quickly. Your eyes are beginning to droop right now."

"I'm just so freaking sick of this." He burrowed his face in the crook of Blaine's neck as he sniffled and try to stop his tears.

"Tomorrow you get to go home. Tomorrow will be better." Blaine whispered comfortingly. "Just get some rest, alright?"

That was the last thing Kurt remembered hearing before he fell into a comfortable sleep.

* * *

The ride home from the hospital went very differently the second time around. Kurt climbed into the back seat of the car himself, strategically placing himself in the middle so he could reach up and control the radio. Despite this, Burt still put it on John _Mellencamp._

"No. Way. It is my car, Dad. I'm sorry you have a small truck that we will not all fit into, but I refuse to listen to this on the way home." Kurt said instantly when the car was filled with the familiar words, 'Ain't that America home of the free, yeah, little pink houses for you and me.' "No, no, no. Every time you listen to this song, someone runs over a cat."

Blaine laughed loudly, climbing into the back seat with him.

"Do you know how many times in my entire life I've had to listen to you sing songs that I don't like, Kurt?"

"Not as many times as you're going to make it sound like." Kurt leaned forward and hit a button on the radio. Blaine tensed, afraid the big stretch would hurt his boyfriend, but it obviously didn't as Kurt relaxed against the back of the seat and mouthing the words to a Beyonce song.

Burt let out a resigned sigh and did not change the station. Kurt let out a rather excited and loud yelp when Born This Way came on, prompting Burt to grunt and Blaine to arch his eyebrow. By the time Born This Way was over they had made it home.

"Don't give me that look, Dad. You know you love Lady Gaga." Kurt scoffed as his dad helped him out of the car.

"I must have lost that memo." Burt grumbled, passing him the car keys.

Kurt just walked on to the door by himself going "Lalala, want your bad romance!"

"I knew we shouldn't have let him eat that cheesecake before they discharged him. There is a reason I didn't let him eat a lot of sugar when he was little." Burt said quietly.

"Because he went around singing?" Blaine questioned.

"It's tolerable in moderation, I'll admit. And I'm glad he's—."

"Are you all coming in or not?" Kurt called from the door.

"Doctor said no yelling, Kurt Elijah!"

The response was instant and caused Burt to look between the two boys, very confused.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOUR MIDDLE NAME WASN'T ELIZABETH!" Blaine cried out as Kurt yelled "DAAAAAD, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

"He half believed me!" Kurt whined.

"I didn't believe you for one minute, you sneaky little liar!" Blaine exclaimed as he went into the house, following his younger boyfriend upstairs.

"Arrrrgh." The younger boy plopped on his bed and pouted. "This isn't fair."

Blaine laughed loudly. "I never believed you. I just didn't have proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Which I have now."

Kurt sighed dejectedly and moved over, making room for Blaine on his bed. "I shouldn't be surprised. I'm a terrible liar, you know. You don't have to worry about me cheating on you. I'd walk right in and announce it to the entire room."

"There's always that, I suppose." Blaine laughed again, lying down beside him. "I forgot how comfortable this bed is."

Kurt scooted close to him, resting his head on Blaine's arm. "Did you ever have a dog, Blaine?"

Blaine put his arm around his boyfriend, nodding. "Yeah. He was mean though. He didn't like me very much. Actually, he bit me quite a few times."

"Can we get a dog when we move out?" Kurt's blue eyes blinked at him. He seemed to have forgotten his dad had promised him a dog and Blaine chose to not bring that up.

"You can have whatever you want, my love." He whispered, smiling. He fought back a yawn, because he hadn't gotten much sleep since Kurt had been admitted to the hospital. It was later on, when Kurt and his father were asleep, that Blaine would dwell on the fight in the garage and the intense guilt he felt. Despite how many people told him it wasn't his fault, he didn't believe them.

Blaine felt his arm being nuzzled as his boyfriend spoke. "I want a dog named Kreacher."

"That will be the first thing we get then." He ruffled Kurt's hair. "Will he be nice to me?"

"Mhmm. And I also would like to know what you think about Sophia Lily?"

"Who is Sophia Lily?" Blaine arched his eyebrow, looking down at him.

"Well it's a name. A girl's name. Well, _obviously_ a girl's name. Do you like it?"

Was Kurt… picking out the name for their first child? Is that what he was trying to get Blaine to agree to? His heart gave a little flutter of excitement. Or was it nerves? He could see them bringing a little girl home to the perfect nursery. They would spend half of Blaine's paychecks dressing the little girl. Kurt's money would be used to pay the bills. They would have a nice big house with a swing, a dog, and the perfect little family. Only their daughter would definitely _not_ be raised to act like Rachel Berry. Blaine wouldn't let that happen. "I like that name." his fingers went through Kurt's hair.

"When we have a girl, we'll call her Sophie." Kurt rolled so he was on top of Blaine, faces close together.

Their eyes met. "What if we have a boy?" Blaine spoke the words, but he was too busy concentrating on how close was to Kurt. How he could smell the red apple jelly beans he'd eaten on the way home. How his blue eyes were twinkling. And how long it had been since they'd been this close, really been this close.

"We won't." Kurt leaned down, pressing his lips to the other boy's.

Blaine kissed back eagerly, arching involuntarily into him. Kurt moaned softly, deepening the kiss and tugging gently at Blaine's hair. Blaine slid his tongue into Kurt's mouth, exploring. God, he hadn't had a kiss like this in more than a month now. He'd left school in mid October and it was now just two weeks until Thanksgiving. He needed to be closer, he need to kiss his gorgeous boyfriend and re-memorize everything about his perfect body. Kurt happily ran his tongue along Blaine's, his soft hand leaving his hair and going down his face and neck. Blaine moaned, the noise quite a bit louder and a lot more desperate than Kurt's moan had been. His hands rested on Kurt's lower back and he pressed closer.

Suddenly Kurt jumped off of him as there was a knock on the door. Blaine's eyes widened in horror but he was too shocked to even sit up. _Please don't open the door, please don't open the door_.

"I'm heading to the store to pick up some food. Do you boys want anything?" Burt asked through the door.

"No thanks!" Blaine was impressed with how casual his boyfriend's voice sounded. If Blaine had tried to answer he probably would have sounded like he'd swallowed a helium balloon.

"Alright well… I'll be back later then… are you sure you don't want anything? We haven't been in two weeks."

"I'm sure! We'll call if we think of anything."

_Please just leave. Don't open the door. My face will give away that I was totally just making out with your son._

They waited until they heard footsteps and the door close. Both boys looked at eachother. They heard Burt's truck engine. Kurt leaned forward, looking out the window. And then he crashed his lips against Blaine's, letting out an anguished groan. Blaine pulled Kurt back on top of him, holding the smaller boy close. Kurt's hand slid up the front of Blaine's t-shirt, causing the older boy to moan into the kiss.

Kurt pulled back to push Blaine's shirt off, but Blaine pulled him back down mumbling "no" into his lips.

"He's gone." Kurt whimpered back into Blaine's lips.

Blaine pulled away from the kiss, breathing heavily. "You had surgery four days ago, Kurt. We can't get c-carried away."

"Shut up and kiss me." Kurt rolled onto his back, pulling Blaine on top of him.

"Kurt, this is a bad idea." _Bad Kurt. Bad, bad Kurt. Why are you doing this to me_?

Kurt moved his head down, pressing kisses to Blaine's neck. Blaine was very sensitive about two places: his neck and his stomach.

Blaine panted quietly, trying to find the common sense that he knew was buried in the back of his brain and push Kurt off. Not push. Gently move. He let out a strangled moan when Kurt began gently sucking on the skin. "K-Kurt…"

* * *

"Blaine?"

Blaine's eyes snapped open and he looked around. He had fallen asleep. He didn't remember falling asleep, of course. Exactly how much of that had been a dream?

Kurt was lying next to him, sprawled on his back and still wearing what he'd worn home from the hospital. He was fast asleep.

"Mmmhhwhaat?" Blaine struggled to sit up.

"No, don't get up." Carole whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I just wanted to let you know that his medicine is all set out on the counter and there is some money for food."

"Don't even remember falling asleep." Blaine still sounded half asleep.

"I believe you fell asleep mumbling something about getting bitten by a dog. Kurt said it was very sudden. He tried to wake you up but Burt made him leave you alone. You needed the rest." She ruffled his hair. "Just call Burt or me if you boys need anything, okay?"

Blaine nodded, snuggling under the comforter. He was even in his pajamas. Kurt really must have been feeling better than they gave him credit for if he'd felt well enough to get Blaine dressed for bed.

He closed his eyes as Carole made his way to the door and rubbed his face as it was quietly shut. So Kurt hadn't brought up girl's names. It was so real though. He had thought it was. That really was upsetting. Why had that upset him? They were eighteen. They hardly needed to be discussing children. Children they may find themselves unable to adopt for the sheer fact that they were two boys.

Kurt shifted in his sleep, attempted to roll onto his side, and whined. Blaine eased him back onto his back. For now Kurt would just have to be his baby. "You can't lay on your side, love. You've got stitches, remember?"

Kurt, though asleep, nodded and shuffled closer. He muttered something quietly that sounded like "orange turtles." Kurt never ceased to amaze or amuse him. Blaine laughed quietly draped an arm around him and slid his hand up Kurt's shirt, stroking the younger boy's soft side. His boyfriend let out a content noise and nuzzled him.

"Mmmh Blainey?" Kurt yawned

Blaine snorted. "Yes, Kurty?" He felt a swat to his head. "Hey now! You can't hit me! That is harassment!" Two more swats. "You clearly don't have the love and respect for me that I have for you, Kurty."

"No. You're just annoying in the morning." Kurt gave another yawn, nose scrunching up. Blaine reached out to touch his nose. "No, you imbecile. Leave my nose alone!"

"But it's so cute." The older boy kissed the younger boy's cheek. "It's fun to mess with you when you're still half asleep."

"Blaine Anderson, you're a terrible nuisance in the morning."Kurt pushed himself slowly into a sitting position. "Did you sleep well?"

_Yes, I did. And then your stepmother woke me up when I was making out with you in my dream_. He thought about saying that, but instead he said, "Yeah, sorry about that."

"S'okay. I tried to wake you up but you kept calling me a very bad boy." He snorted and then tucked his legs underneath him and, looking carefully at Blaine. He reached his small hand out, touching his hair and taking a deep breath. Blaine reached over and touched Kurt's cheek with his calloused hand. Kurt closed his eyes, lips parting slightly. Blaine stared at the younger boy for quite a while before pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. Kurt returned the kiss, smiling.

_Pull away. You can make out with him in your dreams all you want, but he's still really weak. He had surgery four days ago. Five days?_ It didn't matter. Four or five days. Blaine didn't care how much Kurt said he felt better. They shouldn't get into all that business. Not yet.

Luckily Kurt was the first to pull away. Blaine couldn't have done it himself. Especially after that dream. He was beginning to realize how sexually deprived he felt. It wasn't that he even necessarily wanted actual sex. A nice snog wouldn't hurt, though. But no. Not yet. It was a bad, bad idea. Real life Blaine would have more self control that dream Blaine.

"What are you thinking about?" his boyfriend asked, head tilting to the side in that adorable way.

_Making out with you._ Well he definitely wasn't going to say _that_. "That I need to get you your medicine." There. Good job. That was a very Blaine answer.

"This is true." Kurt put his hand on his side and winced. "It kind of aches today. The new one."

Blaine leaned over, kissing his forehead. "We'll change those bandages right after I get you some food and your medicine. Just lay back."

"Can we watch a movie together?"

"Yeah. Decide which one you want to watch. I'll be right back." He left before his boyfriend could protest. He knew Kurt would have launched into a list of several movies he wanted to decide between and it would have been noon by the time he was able to go downstairs and get the medicine.

He hummed to himself as he made Kurt scrambled eggs and toast. Who said Kurt had to be the homely one who could cook? Blaine could cook very well and maybe it would impress Kurt. He'd never had the opportunity to actually cook for him. He actually hadn't really cooked in a long time unless you counted making spaghetti in his apartment. (And Blaine didn't count it.)

"You're cooking!"

Blaine spun around and pouted. "You were supposed to stay in bed! I was going to surprise you!"

"Those look so good. And it smells _amazing_." He kissed Blaine's cheek and padded to the other counter to get his medicine. He'd never actually gotten the medicine himself—nobody let him do anything himself any more— and looked down at all the pill bottles. "Which ones do I take in the morning?"

"The white ones."

"There are, like, three different white ones, Blaine." Kurt snorted.

Blaine rolled his eyes, putting the eggs on two different plates. "The white ones in the big fat bottle. On the left." He watched Kurt unscrew the top and take out one. "And the blue one, and the Prednisone is in the that other bottle. No, no. Right next to it."

"How many pills do they have me on?" Kurt muttered. "I never even paid attention."

Blaine frowned at Kurt, wishing he didn't have to take _any_ of them. It wasn't fair. It made his stomach churn when he thought about Kurt being on that medicine. And _why_ he was on that medicine. "Five. If you don't count the Tylenol you have to take too… but I think the blue ones you stop taking next week. Here, drink the full glass." He had walked over to Kurt, a tall glass of water in his hand.

Kurt popped the three pills into his mouth and downed the entire glass of water as he was told. Blaine took the glass from him and led him to the kitchen table. "Oh, I get to sit at the table now? I don't know if I can handle this." Kurt said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Blaine refrained from sighing. That would be the Prednisone talking. Of all the medicines, that was the one he wanted Kurt off of the most. Unfortunately he was taking 50 mg of the medicine. That was the highest dosage anyone could take and it was a very powerful steroid. When the doctors did decide to take Kurt off of the medication, it would be a lengthy process in which his dosage would be slowly reduced over a long period of time. He hated this. He really hated it.

"Thank you for making eggs and toast." Kurt whispered several minutes later after some awkward silence. "It tastes really good."

Blaine gave him a smile. "You're welcome. I figured you were sick of poptarts and toaster strudel."

"Toaster Strudel! That's what else you can have strawberries in!" he exclaimed, smacking his hand on the table. "I _knew_ there was something I was forgetting!"

"You're precious." Blaine laughed, ruffling his hair. "Are you done?"

"Done as I can be with this stupid medicine. I'll be the size of a house by the time they take me off of it." He bit his lip and looked at Blaine.

"What?" He reached over, grabbing Kurt's hand.

"Thank you again, Blaine… for… everything." He looked down at the table and pushed his fork around. "I haven't forgotten what you did for me… and I'm really grateful you're here. But I'm sorry I asked you to stay… I shouldn't have done that. It was extremely selfish of me. And it caused you all kinds of trouble." He put his hand over his face and shook his head. "You had to break out of a lease, quit two jobs, drop out of school, and deal with your parents… I'm so sorry."

Blaine pulled Kurt's chair closer to his and then maneuvered Kurt onto his own lap, holding his hands so that the boy couldn't cover his face. "You are much more important to me than _any_ of that. I wanted to do it, Kurt. If I had gone back to UK, I wouldn't even be able to focus because I'd have been worried you weren't okay. I needed to come back here as much as you needed me to come back here."

Kurt's arms went around his neck and he burrowed his face in the crook between Blaine's shoulder and neck. "You are the most amazing person ever, Blaine… don't let anyone tell you any differently." His voice was muffled, but Blaine understood every word.

"Kurt… w-when my dad said that… about you hardly being a boy…"

"I don't care about that." Kurt shrugged, looking back up. "He's just a jerk."

"Well I care. And it's far from the truth. You're a very strong person, Kurt. And you're also very much a man… and I'd know." Oh god, did he say that out loud?

Kurt's eyebrow rose up and he blushed, looking away. "I don't know how much of a man I was then… I was more like a baby."

That wasn't true. He'd been as nervous as anyone would be having sex for the first time. Blaine had been terrified himself all those weeks ago. Sure, he'd had sex before. With people he didn't know or care about. This was different. He was connecting with Kurt on a whole new level, expressing his love in a whole new way. Blaine had been _terrified_. What if he had hurt his boyfriend? What if he felt pressured? What if he didn't like it? Intimacy scared Blaine, in some ways, as much as it scared Kurt. "You weren't a baby. You were just nervous. I was too."

"You know... this is the first time we've even talked about it. We had sex the night before you went back to Kentucky at the end of September. The next time you saw me was…" he trailed off. He didn't need to say it. Blaine knew he was talking about being admitted to the hospital. Everything had changed that night and it seemed so long ago. "I… I really…" the younger boy sighed, looking conflicted. "Ever since that night I've been trying to think of how to put into words how it felt… being with you, that way… but none of the words seem good enough. So I haven't said anything. I'm sorry."

"No, I know how you feel." Blaine cuddled him, still sitting at the kitchen table with Kurt in his lap. "It was… surreal. Connecting with you that way."

"I think about it all the time." Kurt blushed again. "Well, before the hospital I did. And now that I'm feeling better I think about it too… a lot."

"Me too." Blaine smiled, happy to have Kurt in his arms. He was also glad to know that he wasn't the only one who thought (perhaps a little too much) about being intimate with Kurt.

"Can we again sometime?" Kurt's cheeks got even redder.

"Well I hope so!" Blaine laughed, pressing a kiss to the younger boy's forehead. "It's not really a one and done type of thing, Kurt."

"Good." Kurt laughed as well, looking a little relieved but still embarrassed. "That's very… good."

"Okay, let's get your bandages changed and then we'll watch a movie." He stood, Kurt still in his arms.

Kurt wrapped his arms back around Blaine's neck, not protesting being carried.

Blaine sat Kurt down on the edge of the tub and thoroughly washed his hands. Kurt tugged his shirt off and watched Blaine wet one washcloth with soap and warm water while setting another on the sink. He made the three steps to Kurt. "Hold these for me. I'm going to take the bandages off, alright?"

"Okay." Kurt nodded, watching. Instead of pulling the bandage away from Kurt's skin, Blaine gently pulled the skin away from the bandage. It caused much less pain than when his dad did it and Kurt was grateful. He tossed the bandage into the trash and washed his hands again. "Dad doesn't wash his hands this much."

"I don't want to get your cut infected." Blaine whispered, taking the soapy washcloth from his boyfriend. He dabbed very gently at the incision and the surrounding area. "It's still completely closed up and doesn't look infected or anything."

"Good." Kurt was holding his arm up over his head to give Blaine better access to his side. He continued to watch Blaine work on his wound, wincing slightly when Blaine put the ointment on. "It burns."

"Sorry." He gave his boyfriend an apologetic look. "I know. But it will make sure it doesn't get infected." This was one reason he didn't try to do Kurt's bandages regularly. He hated causing Kurt even the smallest amount of pain. In his opinion, the boy had had enough pain over the last month to last his entire life. He carefully covered the incision with a bandage, taping around outside the entire thing. "There we go. You can put your arm down now."

"You should be a doctor." Kurt said thoughtfully as he stood.

"It never really interested me." Blaine admitted, washing and drying his hands one final time. He really had considered it when he was fifteen or so. There were several things he didn't find appealing about it. First, his father was a doctor. Second, he would have to go to school much longer than he wanted. Third, his father was a doctor. Fourth, the hours sounded dreadful. And lastly, his father was a doctor. No. A career in medicine was most certainly not in Blaine Anderson's future. He didn't really know what exactly he wanted to do though. He had so many options. How was he even going to pay to go back to school without his parents? He would have to take out loans because he most certainly wouldn't qualify for financial aid. He would worry about it later. It would all work out.

"I'm going to be a clothing designer." Kurt made his way out of the bathroom and into his bedroom, plopping on the bed.

Blaine, of course, knew this. What else would Kurt do? Musical theater, perhaps. That seemed like more of a hobby for Kurt though, not an actual career choice. He took a spot by Kurt on the large bed, resting his head on the pillow. It was ten. He'd only been awake for an hour, but it felt like it had been much longer than that.

"I just don't know what I want to _do_ , though. About school." Kurt continued. "I know I wanted to go to New York or California… but I keep thinking about it and it doesn't… I don't know."

Blaine rolled onto his side, facing the younger boy, and watched him intently. "It's far away from home."

"And you." Kurt sighed a bit. "There's no way I can go half way across the country without you, Blaine. I don't know how I'll handle it when I'm completely better and dad makes you sleep in the guest room. And that's just a room away. Do you want to go back to UK?"

"Yeah… I think so. I mean, I could probably be persuaded otherwise. I want to be close to you too, Kurt…"

The two sat in silence, just looking at each other.

"We'll figure something out." The younger of the two whispered, scooting closer. "I've kind of been thinking about Columbus. There's a school that has a fashion design program… and maybe if you went to UK… we could get a place together. Somewhere in the middle." His eyes, which had been looking at his hands, looked back up at his boyfriend. "I mean we both drove two hours to and from to see each other almost every day when I had to come back to McKinley last spring… if we lived in the middle of Lexington and Columbus it'd be, like, an hour and a half drive for both of us to get to school."

"I really like that idea." Blaine felt himself smiling. "I _really, really, really_ like that idea, Kurt."

Kurt gave him an adorable grin. "Me too. We'll definitely need to look into that soon."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: This story is AU, meaning it is an alternate universe. It is not meant to be exactly like the television show that we all know and love. What Brings Us Closer Together is loosely based off of canon but is not intended to be/follow canon.

_ **Part One** _

Kurt padded quietly into the kitchen early on Thanksgiving Day about a week after getting re-released from the hospital.

Carole, who was busy preparing the turkey, looked up and gave him a smile. "Hello, sweetie. What are you doing up so early?"

He pulled a chair up to the counter by her and admitted, "I had a nightmare…"

She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently.

"You know, I forgot it was Thanksgiving today." Kurt sighed quietly.

"It's going to be weird having Thanksgiving dinner without Finn… but I'm glad Blaine is here." She smiled a bit sadly.

"Do you need any help?" Kurt asked, feeling bad for her.

She shook her head. "No, no. I'll put this in the oven and give you some milk so you can get back to bed."

"I don't really… want to go back to sleep." He really didn't. His nightmares weren't awful, but they still weren't very pleasant. This last one had been particularly vivid though and he'd woken up feeling as if he was being slammed into a wall again, as if he could feel his ribs cracking. He didn't want to have another nightmare and wake Blaine up. It had taken him thirty minutes to get Blaine back to sleep after he'd woken the boy up not too long ago.

"You should. Your family is coming to see you. If you don't look well rested they'll think we aren't taking care of you." Carole said softly, patting his arm. "You need rest to keep getting better."

Kurt looked down at the table, not knowing what to say. Carole put the turkey into the oven and went to the refrigerator, pouring Kurt some milk. She took her previous seat and just looked at him as he sipped it. Finally, he spoke. "I have them sometimes… so I come down here and drink milk and stare out the window. Nightmares, I mean."

"Honey, we can get you something to help you sleep. Is that why you've seemed so tired?" she reached out, brushing some of his hair back.

"I have no trouble sleeping. I just don't like the dreams… and I hate to wake Blaine up. He gets really worried when I do is all. He's got enough to worry about." He pushed the half full glass away from him and put his chin in the palm of his hand. "Carole… dad won't tell me. How much are the hospital bills going to be?" he looked down. "I know insurance only covers 75% of the medical expenses…"

"Kurt, don't you worry about that. We did what we had to do to get you better. That's what is important and we don't want you worrying about that." Carole whispered. "That is for me and your father to worry about."

Kurt sighed and let his hand drop to the counter.

She put her hand over his. "I'm serious. We don't want you to worry about it. We knew how much money this was going to cost. Of course we were going to go through with it. Money isn't important and everything will work out. Now finish up your milk and head up to bed."

Kurt drank the last of his milk and stood. "You're not nervous about today, are you?"

"A bit, of course. I've met your grandmother but it will be my first time meeting your aunt." Carole confided, but smiled. "But the way you talk about her, I know I'll love her."

"She'll love you too, Carole… and sorry Finn won't be here." He gave her a weak smile and headed back up to his bedroom.

"Wereemmmyougooo?" Blaine mumbled sleepily, scooting right up to him. "Lefmeee."

Kurt laughed quietly. "To get some milk."

Blaine made a noise of acknowledgment, wrapping his arms around the younger boy from behind and pressing his cold nose against his neck. Kurt shivered slightly and Blaine giggled a bit. "Mmhsorry."

"Hey, Blaine?" Kurt turned his head to peer at his boyfriend. Blaine's eyes were still closed and his hair went in every which direction.

"Yep?"

Kurt kissed his cheek. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Gobble Day." Blaine mumbled into his neck before letting out a quiet snore.

* * *

When Blaine woke up later that morning he could hear loud laughter and voices. Kurt was curled into him, fitting perfectly, and he didn't want to move. The covers were pulled up over them and even though it was freezing outside and snowing, in bed with Kurt he was warm and comfortable. So comfortable.

He reluctantly raised his hand and ran his fingers through Kurt's hair. Kurt let out a tiny noise and snuggled closer. Blaine tightened his grip on the younger boy and kissed the back of his head. "Wake up, my love." He whispered in his ear.

"Mmmhup." Kurt yawned, eyes still closed. There was more loud laughter but he didn't dare move away from his boyfriend.

"I don't think you are." Blaine sang quietly. Kurt reached behind him and promptly smacked the back of his head. "Hey now!"

"Is every morning for the rest of my life going to consist of you annoying me until I finally wake up?" Kurt pouted and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Possibly. Or you could learn to actually wake up on your own." Blaine leaned forward and kissed his shoulder as there was a knock on the door.

"What?" Kurt called.

The door opened and Finn came in, grinning. "'Lo, guys."

"Finn! I thought you had to go with the team to the super bowl or whatever it is!" Kurt exclaimed. "Wait, what did you _do_?"

"I may or may not have told them you got sick from an injury and were in the hospital again…" Fin admitted sheepishly, putting his hands in his jeans pockets. "I was getting kind of lonely."

"You do realize that if I end up in the hospital because of karma, I will kill you?"

Blaine nudged the younger boy until he stood up. "I have a feeling Finn's been asked to come wake you up."

"Oh, fine, fine. Go tell them that I'm on my way down."

Blaine smiled as Kurt gave a resigned sigh and slouched off to the bathroom after grabbing jeans and a sweater, muttering under his breath. "How's OSU, Finn?"

Finn shrugged. "It's just like… school, dude. I dunno. I'm ready for the break, I guess."

Blaine nodded. He knew finals would be coming up. This would have been the week he'd had so much assignments to turn in. "What about football?"

"Good, I guess. Next year I'll actually get real field time. How are you holding up? Mom told me about your parents and all… sorry, dude."

This time it was Blaine's turn to shrug. "I'm fine too, I guess." He really hadn't been thinking about it too much. He hadn't really had _time_ to think about it, to be honest. Kurt had been busy looking up various schools online. He would get really excited about one ("This is it, I know it!") but by the time the next day came around he wasn't so sure ("I don't know. It's too far away." "I don't like the courses offered." "I read it wasn't a gay friendly school." "It's too far away."). Not only had they been looking at every school in the _entire country_ that offered a major in fashion design online, but Blaine had also discovered that had _no clue what to get Kurt for Christmas_.

Last Christmas they hadn't been dating so he'd just given Kurt a cinnamon candy cane and a Christmas card. He'd wanted to get him more but couldn't bring himself to do it. It would have been too awkward. A candy cane clearly wouldn't cut it this time around. Now that Thanksgiving was here, though, he had to figure out what he wanted to get his boyfriend soon. The problem? Kurt had _everything_. The boy literally had _everything_.

Kurt came into the room, frowning. He had on jeans and a bigger black sweater that made him look absolutely adorable. Blaine was so used to seeing Kurt in pajamas and sweatpants by then that he literally started at the younger boy for several seconds, heart pounding. Kurt was gorgeous. He really and truly was.

"Is it that bad? I'll change. I knew it." Kurt said worriedly, heading back towards his closet. "I knew these pants wouldn't fit anymore. I've just gained all this stupid weight."

"No!" Blaine said quickly. "No, I mean, no. You look amazing, Kurt. Wow."

"Okay I'm going to leave in case you two decide to start making out or something." Finn said awkwardly and rushed out.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked reluctantly, hand still on the closet's doorknob.

"Very sure." Blaine smiled at his boyfriend. "You look adorable."

"Fine, fine. Go get dressed. Do you want me to wait for you?"

"No, go on down. I won't be long." Blaine kissed his cheek. "I love you, Kurt. Happy Thanksgiving."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist, pressing close. He rested his head comfortably on Blaine's shoulder. "You're what I'm thankful for today, Blaine. I love you too."

Blaine wrapped his own arms around Kurt, resting his chin on the top of Kurt's head. "I'm thankful you're here and relatively healthy, Kurt… and that you're mine."

"I am yours." Kurt mumbled into his shoulder, nuzzling him. "You're stuck with me now. If you try to leave, my dad will shoot you."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh loudly. He'd thought the same thing to himself several times, not that he'd ever want to leave Kurt though. "Don't worry about that. I'm not going to try to leave, you silly thing."

Kurt's arms tightened around his waist and he breathed in deeply, eyes closed. Blaine rubbed his hand up and down the smaller boy's back and kissed the top of his head. They stayed that way for several minutes in a comfortable silence, just holding each other, until Kurt eventually pulled away. "Go get in the shower. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Blaine kissed him quickly and nodded. "I'll be right down, my love." His heart fluttered when Kurt gave him an adorable smile and left the room. He took a quick shower and actually styled his hair since he hadn't done so in weeks and didn't feel like his hair should be going everywhere when he met Kurt's extended family.

When he finally entered the kitchen Burt, Carole, Finn, and Kurt were seated with two other women Blaine had never seen before. They were both younger, though, and there was no way either of them was Kurt's grandmother. He was sure, though, that Kurt had said his aunt and uncle would be coming, and his grandmother.

"There he is!" Carole said cheerfully, patting an empty seat next to her. "Everyone's very excited to meet you, Blaine."

"Hello." Blaine said smoothly, waving and taking the seat.

The shorter woman, with red hair and startling green eyes, leaned forward and shook his hand. "Hi, Blaine! I'm Kurt's aunt Paige."

"It's very nice to meet you." He smiled at the woman and shook her hand. This wasn't as bad as he thought it would be and he really wasn't even that nervous.

"I'm her girlfriend Taylor." The woman next to her, who was a bit taller and had dark brown hair and caramel eyes, smiled and held out her hand as well. Blaine noticed she and Kurt were actually sitting in the same chair.

Well, Kurt had definitely forgotten to mention that his aunt was gay. Then again if Kurt had just grown up with two aunts, he probably hadn't even thought to mention it. People didn't exactly go around informing people their aunt was straight, either.

"It's nice to meet you too." Blaine shook her hand as well.

"When did mom say she was going to get here, Burt?" Paige asked looking at her younger brother. Or in the direction of him at least. Blaine noticed they talked at each other almost, and not _to_ each other.

"When she called she said it'd be about an hour and a half. I'm going to go turn the game on." He stood, not making eye contact.

"Too much gay in here for you, Burt?" Taylor called after him. He just grunted and went into the living room. "Carole, I don't know how you put up with him."

Carole just laughed.

Okay, maybe this wasn't scary at all. Blaine did get the feeling there was something going on between Burt and his sister though. They seemed like they had just had an argument or something. Siblings did that a lot though. He watched as Taylor reached up and ruffled Kurt's hair. "You look good, hon. How are you doing?"

"I'm good." Kurt answered, leaning against her. Blaine could tell he was still tired. It was in his eyes. "I'm on a lot of medicine though. So they help."

Paige reached over and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry we couldn't come earlier, Kurtsie. They wouldn't let me out of work."

"No, it's fine. I'm fine. Dad, Carole, and Blaine took good care of me." Kurt smiled at her.

Blaine felt Paige's eyes on him and he shifted a bit. She smiled at him, though. "Good. I'm glad. How's Daddy taking it?"

"Dad's okay." Kurt kind of shrugged. "He doesn't talk about it a lot… but I don't really mind that…" he scratched his cheek a bit and shrugged again. "He gets mad when he talks about it."

"He should get mad." Taylor gave Kurt a tight squeeze. "Nobody pushes a Hummel around. Especially not the baby."

Kurt laughed.

"Kurt's the baby of the family." Paige informed Carole and Blaine. "We don't have kids. Not yet, at least."

"And I'm perfectly fine with that. Your dog is a nuisance enough." Taylor muttered. "And it's probably tearing up the house as we speak, I hope you know."

"It's cruel to put him in a cage, Taylor, and you know it. He needs to be able to play." She turned to Blaine. "You'll have to ignore her. She doesn't like animals."

"I like animals. I just don't like _your_ animals." Taylor protested, making everyone laugh.

"Oh, now, are we really going to spend all day talking about that silly dog again?" A new voice said.

Kurt jumped off of the chair and ran across the room, throwing his arms around the woman that just had to be his grandmother. "Grammy!"

She was an older woman with styled short hair, perfect make up, and green eyes just like Burt and Paige's. She wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, look at how tiny you still are! You look exactly like your mother." She kissed his cheek. "Thank goodness for that, too!"

"Kurt's always going to be tiny." Paige said cheerfully from the table.

"I wish I was taller." Kurt muttered, frowning.

"Nonsense! You are perfect just the way you are. If you were any taller, I'd disown you. Now take me to meet this gorgeous young man that has stolen your heart." Her eyes fell on Blaine, who felt himself blush a bit.

Kurt pulled away from the hug and led her to over to him. Blaine stood to shake her hand.

"Oh, he's very gentlemanly. I like him." Kurt's grandmother said, but she did not shake his hand. She pulled him into a hug. "You're taking good care of my Kurt, aren't you?"

"I'm trying." Blaine smiled at her as she pulled away.

"Good. It's very nice to meet you, Blaine. Kurt's told me a lot about you. He didn't tell me you were _this_ handsome, though. How on earth did you meet him, Kurt?"

Blaine grinned. "Yeah, Kurt. How did we meet again?"

Kurt mumbled incoherently, looking at the floor.

"I think what he meant to say was he went to spy at our rival school." Finn said cheerfully. "And that is where he met Blaine. The lead soloist. Of the rival school."

"He did not!" his grandmother gasped, turning to Kurt. "He would never!"

"Oh, he did, Mrs. Hummel." Finn nodded. "I promise."

"Finn, I hate you." Kurt muttered.

"Well, I suppose it's a cute story for the kids at least. Although I hope you tell your children that it was _dishonest_ and _cheating_." She hugged Kurt again and walked over to the other side of the room. "Carole, it's lovely to see you! Can I help with anything?"

Blaine smirked, remembering how endearing Kurt had been when he had driven out to Dalton two days in a row to "spy." That was one thing that could be marked off his list of career possibilities, needless to say. Blaine could remember the way his heart literally stopped when Kurt had said "Excuse me, can I ask you a question? I'm new here." Blaine had never seen someone quite like Kurt. It had really been his eyes that had caught his attention at first. They were so brilliantly blue with little green flecks towards the center. He also remembered the spark he felt when he grabbed Kurt's hand to lead him to the commons for the Warbler's performance.

That spark he chose not to act on as soon as he found out how desperately Kurt needed a mentor, a friend… no, there was no way for him to date Kurt _then_. By the time Kurt was ready, though, there had been Jeremiah. And then Rachel Berry. He was so sure, after that, that Kurt would never want to talk to him again. Obviously he'd been wrong.

Nonetheless, Kurt's grandmother was right. They would have a very cute story to tell their children one day. Then again, what involving Kurt Hummel was not cute?

He was shaken from his thoughts when he felt Kurt lean on him slightly. "You should sit down." He whispered quietly.

"Mmh I'm fine here." Kurt responded, closing his eyes.

"Sweetheart, why don't you go lay on the couch while we get dinner all set up?" Carole said from across the room, breaking her conversation with Kurt's grandmother. "Everyone will have a chance to chat and interrogate Blaine over dinner."

_Oh, great. Interrogate?_

"Alright… but if anyone needs help let me know." Kurt stood up straight, taking Blaine's hand. "Let's go in here with dad."

"Yeah, Kurtsie. But no hanky panky on the couch in front of Burt!" Taylor called as they left the room, loud enough for Burt to hear.

Burt gave them a rather suspicious look as they sat down on the couch and then returned his attention to the game. Blaine began watching too, of course. About five minutes into the game Kurt moved into a lying position and placed his head on Blaine's lap. Blaine ran his fingers through Kurt's hair absentmindedly as he watched the game, but he found he couldn't really pay that close of attention. He kept thinking about how soft Kurt's hair was, how soft Kurt was in general actually, and also how he was never going to find the perfect Christmas present for him. Also, what would happen if Kurt did end up deciding to move far away? How would he handle not seeing Kurt ever day? Not wrapping his arms around Kurt when they were preparing to go to sleep, not able to feel how perfectly Kurt felt there. Because he _did_ fit perfectly.

There was loud laughter from the other room and Kurt jumped, eyes snapping open. He rubbed his eyes and whined softly.

"It's alright. Go back to sleep." Blaine whispered, ruffling his hair.

"Mmmmh." Instead he pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned against Blaine.

"Dinner should be done soon, kiddo. You can go up to bed afterward." Burt said from the chair.

"Game over?" Kurt yawned.

"There's ten minutes left. We're gonna lose though." Burt sighed. "It's been an awful season. I don't get it. Last year we did so good."

Kurt nuzzled Blaine's shoulder. "Dad used to play for the Buckeyes. Did I ever tell you that?"

Well that distracted Blaine from his thoughts. " _You did_? When? What year? _You played for the Buckeyes?"_

Kurt laughed quietly.

"I did. For two years back in 1993 before Kurt was born. Elizabeth got pregnant a year after high school."

"Was it amazing?" Blaine was in shock. He knew Burt liked football, he knew he liked the Buckeyes, but _he didn't know Burt was on the Buckeyes. His favorite team!_

Burt laughed. "It was pretty cool. I had to withdraw though and quit the team in 1994 though."

"Why would you ever want to do that?"

Kurt grinned. "That would be my fault. I tend to make people drop out of school, apparently."

"Your fault?" Blaine questioned.

"Elizabeth went into premature labor. Kurt was born four months early." Burt explained.

Blaine's eyes widened and, football forgotten, he turned to look at his small boyfriend. "F-four months early? Why?"

"She got a pretty bad infection. I got a call in the middle of the night. I roomed at OSU and she lived at home with her parents, you see? So I got a call and by the time I got to the hospital she was in labor. They had to perform a C-section." He reached over and ruffled Kurt's hair. "He was about… about 3 pounds."

Blaine just stared at Kurt in shock. "W-what? 3 pounds?"

"2.7? 2.6? He was really close. He was so tiny. I could open my hand and he would fit right on the palm of it."

"See? Always going to be tiny." Kurt whined. "I blame being born early."

"But… is it even possible to live being born that early?" All Blaine wanted to do was reach out and cuddle Kurt. He didn't know that Kurt had been born early, let alone _four months early_.

"That's why I dropped out… we weren't really… sure what was going to happen. He was taken to a special NICU hospital in Illinois and we stayed there… what? Almost three months with him. He was in an incubator most of the time so his lungs could finish developing and he didn't handle food too well… but once we made it past week one, I knew he was going to be okay." Burt grunted a bit. "I bet I've got pictures around here somewhere."

"No, dad." Kurt shook his head. "No, absolutely not. I refuse to let you show him my baby pictures."

"So you left school to come home with your wife?" Blaine questioned. This was probably the longest discussion the two had ever had if you didn't count the hospital discussions.

"Well we weren't married at the time. We were engaged. We got married when Kurt was five months old. We wanted two months to just get used to being parents before we jumped into marriage. Some adjustment time, I guess." Burt answered. "We had a lot of help from Elizabeth's parents. My mom lived in Cincinnati but she did stay two weeks when we first brought Kurt home. Paige and Taylor were living in Rhode Island at the time, but they came down when he was born and stayed as long as Taylor could be out of work"

"Wow." Blaine whispered. "That must have been… really, really scary. And hard."

"It was terrifying." His boyfriend's father nodded. "This little thing is born and it was so tiny. He got a little better every day though and eventually he was three years old and toddling around in his mother's shoes and then he was four and singing A Whole New World off of the Little Mermaid…" Burt laughed and shook his head. "It was very scary but it turned out alright."

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "It's Part of Your World, Dad."

"And _now_ he's eighteen and a sarcastic little brat." His dad laughed.

"A Whole New World is Aladdin. I'm not being sarcastic. I'm merely informing you of the Disney songs. Although I watched them so much I shouldn't need to be telling you this."

Carole poked her head in. "Dinner is ready. Do we want to eat in the kitchen or in here?"

"There's more room in the kitchen. I'll bring in some extra chairs from the back." Burt stood, ruffled Kurt's hair, and made his way into the kitchen.

"You were only _three pounds!_ " Blaine turned to his boyfriend.

"Three _adorable_ pounds." Kurt grinned at him.

Blaine threw his arms around Kurt, pulling him close.

"Blaine, I really can't breathe…no, really… okay, yeah, just pull me tighter. That's fine." Kurt grunted, patting Blaine's back and the top of his head. He pressed a kiss to the older boy's ear.

"Just shut up and hug me back, Kurt." Blaine mumbled into his shoulder, loosening his grip.

Kurt slid his arms around his boyfriend and hugged him tightly.

Blaine loved hugging Kurt, but he loved it even more when Kurt hugged him. There was no place nicer in the world than in his arms. There couldn't be. There wasn't. "Have you ever thought you couldn't love something more and then one day… you just find out you do?" he asked, pulling back slightly to look in Kurt's blue eyes.

"Every night." Kurt answered, sending a shiver throughout Blaine's entire body. "Every single night you wake up with me in the middle of the night and make everything better…" The younger boy pulled him closer, and nothing else mattered.

* * *

_Three Days Later…_

"No, no, no."

Blaine rolled over, wondering what had woken him up. He had been having a nice dream about he, Kurt, and a bathtub. He wanted to get back to that dream.

"Please, no."

"Shh, Kurt. I'm trying to sleep." He grunted, mind not fully functioning yet. Blaine did not handle being woken up in the middle of the night very well. Especially being woken up in the middle of the night from a very nice dream.

"Please stop, please!"

Blaine sat up quickly and surveyed the room. Right. He had been asleep and was in Kurt's room. Asleep and in Kurt's room while the boy was crying out. Slowly his thought process began to actually work.

His boyfriend rolled over, onto his injured side, and let out a loud whimper. "No, no, please."

Blaine leaned over him, placing a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to soothe the boy. Instead of calming, though, Kurt tensed and lashed out at Blaine. This startled Blaine. Usually Kurt would relax, not lash out at him like that. His nightmares weren't usually this intense, and it worried Blaine.

"Kurt, wake up." Blaine said, grabbing Kurt's arm to avoid being hit in the face. "Kurt, it's me. Kurt… Kurt, stop it!" _What do I do, what do I do?_

Kurt struggled to free his arm, letting out several whimpers.

"Kurt, please, it's just me. C-calm down, baby. It's just me." Blaine grabbed his other arm, but this only made Kurt struggle more. He didn't know what to do. Everything seemed to scare his boyfriend more and every time he whimpered Blaine's heart sank lower and lower. How in the hell was he supposed to get Kurt up without scaring him more? That was the last thing he wanted " _Kurt, wake up!_ "

His eyes snapped open. Finally, Kurt was awake. They were both sitting up, Kurt having sat up in the middle of his struggle against Blaine. Their eyes met and Kurt quit struggling instantly. He was breathing heavily, eyes wide in horror.

Blaine took a deep breath and slowly released his grasp on his boyfriend's arms, relief washing over him. "Are you okay, Kurt?"

Kurt just stared at him and took in another deep breath.

"Here, come here. Come here. Let's get you back into a peaceful sleep." Blaine laid back and opened his arms, but Kurt wouldn't move. "Kurt…"

He wiped his eyes as tears filled them, letting out a sniffle. Blaine's hear cracked right down the middle seeing those teary eyes.

"No, no, no. Don't cry, my love." Blaine sat back up, hopes of calming Kurt until he fell back asleep gone, and wrapped his arms around Kurt. "Shh, don't cry."

"T-t-this k-keeps happening!" he sobbed into Blaine's shoulder. "I c-c-can't even s-s-sleep!"

"Shh, Kurt, shh. Everything is going to be okay, my love. Everything will be okay." Blaine rocked him slowly, feeling rather upset himself by now. He didn't want Kurt to be like this. He just wanted things to be normal for once. Was that too much to ask? Why couldn't Kurt ever catch a break? Truth be told, Blaine was starting to get seriously worried about his boyfriend. His mood swings over the last three days alone had been terrible. It had started right after Thanksgiving. One minute he would be laughing and the next he'd be crying about something as simple as not being able to find the issue of Vogue that he had been reading. "Shh, Kurt… it's okay. It was just a nightmare."

"It w-w-was real t-t-though!" he sobbed helplessly, clutching at Blaine's t-shirt.

_It was real though._ That last statement hit home and Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt tightly. This time his heart didn't crack, it broke completely into two jagged pieces. "Oh sweetie… it's all over now, Kurt… you'll never see them again…"

"W-W-What if t-they c-catch th-them and I h-have to? I s-s-saw on the n-news that another b-boy was attacked!" he pulled away, looking at Blaine with huge blue eyes. "What i-if they f-find me again?"

Blaine had really hoped Kurt wouldn't find out about the latest attack that had happened six days ago. The police kept in touch with Burt, but so far they had not wanted to worry Kurt. Obviously their plan had failed. Kurt had found out anyway and was more worried than ever. How long had he known?

"It's not fair, Blaine! It's not fair!" Kurt stood up, wiping his face angrily even though the tears continued to fall. "I can't even sleep because of these people!"

He watched the younger boy, feeling his eyes tear up a bit. It really wasn't fair. His poor, sweet Kurt. All he wanted to do was cuddle his sadness away. "I know. Sweetie, please, lay down. Let me hold y—"

"Don't tell me to lay down!" Kurt suddenly exclaimed, making Blaine jump. "You don't… you just…" He turned, throwing an empty glass that was on his desk against the wall. It shattered, spraying glass everywhere.

"Kurt, stop it. Now." Blaine stood up. This was escalating very quickly and it made Blaine uncomfortable. He'd never seen Kurt this way before. He never wanted to see Kurt this way again, either.

"Don't tell me to stop, Blaine! Don't!" Kurt backed up as Blaine tried to grab his arm. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone! I'm angry!"

"Do you not think I'm angry too, Kurt?" Blaine said, much louder than he intended. "Do you think I don't want to find these people? And make them pay for what they did to you? Do you think I like having to wake up in the middle of the night and hear you whimpering, but any time I try to pull you close , have you tense up like you're afraid I'm going to hurt you? Do you think I enjoyed when you passed out in the middle of the mall on Black Friday because you overexerted yourself? Do you think I'm happy they're shoving all this medicine down your throat? Or that because of it you yell at me? _Do you really think I'm not angry too_?"

Kurt just pushed past him and rushed down the hall.

"Where are you going, Kurt?" Blaine hurried after his boyfriend. "Kurt, put that down!"

Kurt was unscrewing the bottle of his most powerful painkillers. For a second, a split second, Blaine thought he was going to down them all in some medically induced fit of rage. Instead Kurt threw the cap down onto the floor and poured all the pills into the sink, starting the garbage disposal. His face was red with anger.

"Kurt!" Blaine shouted, rushing over and turning the disposal off. All the medicine was gone. Not even one pill left in the sink. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Burt rushed in, wearing pajamas and still half asleep. His voice was gruffer than usual when he spoke. "What's going on?"

Kurt sank to the floor and threw the empty bottle across the room, abruptly beginning to sob again.

Burt looked immediately to Blaine, but he could say nothing. He just punched the refrigerator as hard as he could. This was stupid. This wasn't fair. And it wasn't Kurt. Why was all of this stupid stuff happening?

"I'm so tired of this!" Kurt shouted through his sobs. "I am so sick and tired of this! I don't want to be on the stupid medicine! I don't want to be in this stupid house all of the fucking time! _I'm sick and tired of being fucking sick and tired!_ "

Burt sat down on the floor by Kurt and wrapped his arm around him, looking as confused as Blaine felt. "I know, kid. I know."

"You don't!" There was such hate in Kurt's face and his voice that it made Blaine feel sick to his stomach. He felt himself wince. "You don't fucking know how this feels!"

"You're taking your anger out on the wrong people here, kiddo. We all know you're tired. We know you're upset." His father said calmly and quietly.

" _You don't know_. You don't know the h-half of it! You d-don't know what it's like to g-go to sleep and see it happening over and over and _fucking over_!"

"What can we do, Kurt? What can we do to make this easier on you?" his father whispered, pushing his hair back. "Calm down and talk to me, kiddo."

Kurt's chest rose and fall heavily with every breath he took. Sobs still shook his entire body. Huge heartbreaking sobs that were surely hurting his lung. He said nothing, though. Blaine almost wished he was still screaming. At least he had some inkling of what his boyfriend was thinking. This was horrible to witness. Absolutely heartbreaking and horrible.

"What can we do, son? What can we do? I'll take you to the doctor tomorrow and we'll lower your pain medicine. I'll get you someone to talk to."

"I don't need a therapist!"

Maybe Blaine did like the silent Kurt more. He hated hearing such hatred in Kurt's beautiful voice. Was Kurt really that broken down? He had seemed fine before... Well, not _fine_. But nothing like this. He had seemed like he was making progress.

Burt, who normally just shut down and let Kurt throw his fits when he got like this, didn't back down. "What do you need, Kurt?"

Kurt just covered his face with his hands, shoulders shaking. He shook his head.

"How are we supposed to help you if you won't let us? You've got so many people right here willing to help you… if you keep acting okay when you're not, how are we supposed to know?"

"You didn't tell me they attacked someone else!" he suddenly shouted, looking up. "Why didn't you tell me? They attacked me! Did anyone think I would have liked to have known?"

"We thought—."

"We? _Blaine knew_? Blaine, you knew?" Now that look of hatred was aimed at Blaine, the spitefulness in his voice. Blaine's blood ran cold and he couldn't bear to look in those angry blue eyes, so he looked down at the floor. "You fucking knew and didn't _tell me_?"

"I told him not to, Kurt. I didn't want you to worry." Burt said quickly.

"Fuck you both! This happened to _me_ , not you two! How could you not tell me, Blaine? What the _fuck_? How could you not tell me something like this? Why is it that I'm completely honest with you, yet lately I feel like I don't even know you?"

That hurt.

That really hurt.

Like, really.

Blaine finally looked up at Kurt, fighting tears.

_This is just the medicine talking. It's not Kurt. This isn't Kurt.  
_

"Don't talk to him that way." Burt snapped. "You're upset but cussing and attacking Blaine isn't going to make you feel any better."

"I'm leaving." Kurt broke free of his father's grasp and grabbed his car keys off of the counter.

"No, you are not!" Burt ran after him. "You can't drive like this!"

Blaine could hear loud shouting from both men outside. Several times he heard the car door shutting. He could see Kurt wrenching it open and Burt pushing him away from it, slamming it back shut. Over and over. Blaine counted the door slam seven times.

"Get inside the house right now, Kurt!" The shouting grew louder. Now he was able to make out the words.

"It's _my_ car! It's in _my_ name!"

"Get inside the damn house!"

"I hate you!"

Blaine covered his face, not knowing what to say. What to think. What to do. What was he supposed to do? He lowered his hands as Burt dragged a struggling Kurt into the house. "Tomorrow morning we are going to your doctor and getting you on something else!"

"Fine! Give me more fucking drugs. Maybe these will keep me sleeping all the fucking time and you can pretend you don't have a son!" Kurt was now shouting complete nonsense. Could he even hear himself at this point, or was he too mad to care?

"Go to your room, Kurt. Right now. Before you say something you regret." Burt pointed towards the hall as if Kurt was a little child.

" _I don't even have to listen to you_!" Kurt sneered. "What, like you protected me? Like you protected me _any_ of these years! Do you know how many nights I fell asleep crying? Did you ever tell me it was going to be okay?"

"Now, Kurt. Go. To. Your. Room."

Kurt turned on his heels and stomped off. Thirty seconds later the door slammed shut.

"I think you're going to want to stay in the guest room tonight, Blaine." Was all Burt said before going off to bed.

* * *

Kurt was silent the whole next morning. At the table, he kept his eyes down and played with his hands. In the car, he stared out the window and didn't even utter a sigh. In the waiting room he conveniently looked the other way any time Burt or Blaine looked in his direction.

"Kurt Hummel?" A nurse called.

Kurt stood and quickly made his way to her. Burt and Blaine followed at a much slower pace.

"You still weigh the same as last time." The nurse said as they stepped in. "How are you feeling?"

Kurt didn't speak.

"Alright, I'll take you to your room. Do you want your jacket?"

He didn't speak.

Burt reached out his hand to retrieve his son's jacket. "I'll take it. Thanks."

The nurse led them to a room and held the door open. The three made their way in and Burt silently helped his son onto the bed. The twenty minute wait felt like four hours. Kurt stared out the window, swallowing very hard occasionally. Burt paced the small length of the room and sighed a few times. Blaine stared down at his feet. He hadn't slept at all since the night before, but he had checked on Kurt two hours after his fit and the boy had been fast asleep. His face had been red and his cheeks tear stained. It had make Blaine go back to the guest room and cry. The fact that Kurt was mad at him made him want to cry again right there in the doctor's office. He would hold it in, though. If he felt the need to cry, he'd do so later in the guest bedroom.

"Hello, Kurt." The same friendly doctor from last time came in.

"Hi, Dr. Gibbons." He muttered quietly. Blaine hated how defeated Kurt sounded. _This isn't Kurt._

"I wasn't supposed to see you for two more weeks. What's going on?" the doctor took a seat.

After it became apparent Kurt was not going to answer the question, Burt sighed. "He… I think he had a nervous breakdown last night… I guess we wanted to know if… what we can do for him?"

Kurt rubbed at his eyes suddenly, sniffling.

"Okay." The doctor said softly, nodding. "Let me take a listen to your chest, alright? I want to see how your lung is doing." Kurt took a deep breath and nodded, wiping his eyes again. The doctor pulled up the back of his shirt and listened. "Everything sounds very good, Kurt."

Kurt gave another sniffle, lip beginning to tremble. Blaine had to look away.

"He doesn't like being on so much medicine." Burt said, reaching out and ruffling Kurt's hair. "And he's having trouble sleeping through the night without nightmares."

The doctor patted Kurt's leg. "Alright. Let's talk about what we're going to do for you." He said softly. "Are you still in any pain?"

"S-some, but not much." Several tears fell down his cheeks and Burt squeezed his shoulder. "M-mostly if I move really f-fast."

"I'm going to take you off of the Feverall and Ultram." The doctor said quietly and in a kind voice. "Those are the more powerful ones. I'll start reducing the Prednisone and hopefully we can have you off of it completely by the beginning of February. I'm going to keep your prescription of Celebrex current that way if you feel as though you need it, it's there. So that will put you at taking Celebrex when you need it and the Prednisone regularly. Is that okay?"

Kurt let out a tiny sob and nodded. Blaine wanted to reach out and hug him, but he was still afraid Kurt was mad at him. How long before Kurt would speak to him? This was killing Blaine. He hadn't gone this long without speaking to Kurt for weeks. Blaine didn't like this at all.

"I do want to put you on Lunesta. You take it half an hour before you go to sleep and it will keep you asleep. You'll get a full 8 hours of rest at least each time you take it and you'll… you'll probably feel a lot better when you're regularly well rested."

"Thank you." Burt said quietly, pulling Kurt close.

"You're welcome. I'll fill out those new prescriptions and you can start taking them tonight. I'll be right back." The doctor patted Kurt's leg again and left the room.

"Do you feel better now, kid?"

Kurt gave a tiny nod and whispered, "I just want to go home."

_ **Part Two** _

"It's been like two days, Kurt. Are we ever going to speak again?"

Kurt looked up from the scrambled eggs he was eating (Blaine made them better) and saw his boyfriend standing unsurely in the doorway. His hazel eyes looked very sad and it made Kurt feel guilty. He couldn't bring himself to answer the older boy. He felt too guilty. He knew that he'd said some pretty mean things to Blaine the last time they had spoken.

Blaine sighed and turned back around to leave the kitchen. "Fine."

"Will you sit with me?" Kurt's voice came out sounding small and scared. Maybe that's what he was right now, though. He didn't know what Blaine would say or do. He desperately wanted the older boy to come and sit by him, but at the same time he didn't. He sat telling Blaine to not let him parents treat him the exact way, to an extent, that he had treated Blaine himself two nights ago.

He looked down when Blaine just stopped in his tracks. He didn't turn around though.

 _Or not_ , Kurt thought silently and shoved some more eggs into his mouth miserably. Fine. Kurt could handle that. Maybe Blaine should be mad, should not want to be around him.

Blaine turned around and quickly took a seat by Kurt, scooting very close to him in an anxious way. His leg rested against Kurt's and he could feel Blaine's eyes on him but couldn't make himself look up. He was the world's crappiest boyfriend. The world's crappiest person ever, maybe, to be so mean to the sweetest person alive. Kurt's heart was pounding. He wasn't sure if it was a side effect of being off of his medicine or if he was nervous to be so close to Blaine when their last conversation had been… less that perfect. It was probably the latter of the two.

"Can I hug you?" his boyfriend whispered nervously after several awkward minutes in which both boys avoided eye contact.

Kurt had had only just begun to nod when big arms wrapped around him, pulling Kurt close and resting Kurt's head on that familiar shoulder. He let himself relax against the older boy and closed his eyes. No reason to be nervous. It was just Blaine. And Blaine smelled good.

"Let's go talk." Blaine moved into a standing position and held out his hand.

Kurt allowed himself to be pulled up and followed his boyfriend out of the kitchen. He wanted to speak, he really did, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He tried to not be nervous, but it was difficult. This was their first _real_ fight and Kurt had 100% been in the wrong. He felt incredibly guilty but the stubbornness in him did not want to admit that he was wrong. He didn't handle losing very well, in any shape or form.

Kurt was led into his bedroom by Blaine, who quietly shut the door behind them. He sat at Kurt's desk and looked at the smaller boy.

"…. It's snowing." Kurt mumbled, looking out the window. He could see Blaine's eyes widen in frustration in his peripheral vision. He looked down and sighed.

"Kurt, do you really feel like you don't even know me?" Blaine asked slowly and quietly, clearly giving up on Kurt beginning their serious discussion.

The younger boy crossed his arms over his chest and sighed again.

Blaine swallowed and looked away, clearly upset. "I… I don't understand where all of this is coming from… I thought you understood why I kept that stuff from you. It wasn't… meant to make you feel like you didn't know me. Because I'm still the same person. Everything in my past contributed to who I am right now. And if you're referring to me not telling you about the other attacks, I was trying to protect you. You've been scared enough already, Kurt, and I didn't want to add to that."

"You still lied." Kurt mumbled.

"You can't honestly still be arguing that I lied, Kurt. I didn't _lie_. You didn't _ask_. If you had asked, Kurt, I would have told you! But you didn't!" Blaine wasn't yelling, but there was distress evident in his voice. "You can't _honestly_ think you have any sort of valid argument here. Who do you think I am then, Kurt?"

"I…" the younger boy sighed and sat on his bed, crossing his legs and looking back out the window.

"You what?" Blaine sighed in a resigned way.

"I didn't mean it, okay?" he suddenly blurted. "I didn't mean it! I wished I could take it back the second I said it, but I was so mad, and I just kept talking and talking and _I'm sorry_." Now that he'd started talking, he couldn't stop. " _I'm sorry, Blaine_. It was _completely_ … it… it was a low blow and I… I knew it was the one thing that would upset you and _I'm sorry_."

"So you intentionally said the one thing you knew would upset me?" Blaine asked slowly.

Kurt met his eyes, and then quickly looked away. "Don't hate me, Blaine… please…"

"I don't hate you, Kurt." Blaine stood and crossed the room, sitting next to Kurt.

"Well you probably should." Kurt stared down at the floor. "I wasn't a very good boyfriend."

Blaine scooted so he was backed against the pillows instead of sitting on the edge of the bed. He sat quietly for a few minutes, chewing on his lip, before he finally spoke. "You wouldn't have said it if you weren't…"

"In the middle of a nervous breakdown?" Kurt offered, scooting back so he was once again by his boyfriend. Blaine wrapped an arm around him, tugging him even closer. Kurt rested his head on Blaine's chest and breathed in, taking in his scent.

"Kurt… are you mad at me?" Blaine whispered.

Kurt sat up straight and turned to face Blaine. The sad look in his eyes broke Kurt's heart. He reached over and placed his small hands over his boyfriend's larger ones, squeezing them gently. "No, Blaine… I just… I don't know…" he trailed off, not breaking eye contact. "I just want to know what else I don't know. What else do I not know?" he pulled his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them, and looked intently at Blaine.

"Kurt…"

"No. What else don't I know?" Kurt urged. "I want to know everything about you."

"I… I've got an older brother named Alexander. He lives in Italy with this floozy he met on vacation. They're apparently getting married in a year. I don't really even consider him a brother… he's twenty years older than me and… it's just not that good of a relationship. When I was seven years old, my dog ripped my baby blanket to shreds and I cried for weeks. It also bit me on the back of my leg and I have a small scar. You can still see it, sometimes. When I was nine years old I fell off our boat and almost drowned. I had to stay in the hospital for four days." Blaine rambled. "When I was six years old I ate two cans of cat food. I threw up for days. I used to spend all of my summers in Harbor Springs in Michigan. We have a house up there that my grandfather bought for $1 million in cash way back in the day. Your eyes remind me of the water there. When I was eleven I had a girlfriend. She tried to kiss me in the hallway outside of science class but I rushed off and broke up with her by a note the next day. Is that enough?"

Kurt shook his head, watching him interestedly. He didn't want Blaine to stop. He wanted to know everything.

Blaine paused, looking very thoughtful. "When I was thirteen I painted my room… all of these ridiculously cool colors. I was so proud of myself… but my dad thought it was too girly and made me paint over them. I really like to read Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus when it thunderstorms. At home, during the summer, I'd go out on our porch with lemonade and read it through in one entire sitting… I don't know what it is I love about the book so much. We've got—well, I had a really nice house back then. You'd have loved it. It wasn't a home, though. My dad was always at work and mom… well, she was never home. I have my suspicions about where she would go, but…" He trailed off looked up at the ceiling. "I want to live in Michigan one day. At least for a year or two. It's so beautiful, Kurt. And Harbor Springs is so nice. They have this little shop that you can get these cookies from. Tom's Mom's. They are _amazing._ Like, I would go to Michigan for the whole summer until I turned twelve. After we'd go at the beginning of summer and the end I'd go to… that camp. But the beginnings of my summers were amazing. I miss it sometimes."

Kurt didn't even know if they were still in an argument. He just knew Blaine looked sad, so he reached over and grabbed his hand.

"I've always wanted two girls. Four years apart. Because my brother was so much older than me that it wasn't even like having a brother… and I always just wanted someone to talk to, you know? So I think it would be nice to have two girls four years apart. That way they're close enough in age to be good friends. They could take care of each other. And I want a cat. I know you like dogs but I've always wanted a cat. A really lazy and really fat cat that will sit with me when I read. I want to live somewhere that I can sit outside on my porch and read without being bothered… I hate celery. _Hate it_. And peanut butter. Peanut butter is just disgusting."

Kurt tilted his head, still watching Blaine and hanging on to his every word. He loved when Blaine talked. His voice was absolutely beautiful.

"When we sang Baby It's Cold Outside… do you remember that?"

Of course Kurt remembered that. How could he _not_? Hadn't it been the first time they sang alone together?

"I have _never_ wanted to kiss someone as badly as I wanted to kiss you then, Kurt. And it scared me… it really scared me…"

"Why didn't you?" the smaller boy whispered.

Blaine swallowed. "Because I'm terrible at romance. I always have been." He pulled his own knees to his chest and, like Kurt, rested his head on them. "I wanted to… Wes gave me such a hard time. He heard us singing, you know? He really likes you, Kurt. He let me have it for 'leading you on.'"

Kurt felt his lips curl upward in a small smile.

"At your prom, when we slow danced… I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you." He whispered, meeting Kurt's eyes.

Kurt's insides gave a big flip and his breath caught in his throat. That had been a bittersweet night. The beginning, watching the Warblers Sing, dancing with all of the girls of New Directions, sitting at a table with Blaine and laughing, and slow dancing with Blaine had been amazing. They were memories he would cherish forever. As they left, reality struck hard.

Four of the football players had been outside smoking when the two boys left alone, hand in hand. Two of them grabbed Blaine, pushing him into Kurt's car and punching him in the face and stomach several times. Another one of the football players held Kurt back while the last one gave Kurt the same treatment Blaine received. Until one of their girlfriend's left the gymnasium and called our their names. Blaine stayed hunch over for several seconds, holding his stomach, until his breath had slowly returned to him. He had a cut eye and a split lip and there were small drops of blood on his white dress shirt. Kurt had a rather large bump on the side of his head and a bloody nose.

When they arrived at Kurt's house twenty minutes later, Carole had immediately taken them into the bathroom and cleaned both of them up. The damage wasn't too bad. They would only have small cuts and bruises for less than a week. Burt was fast asleep when they arrived and never found out what exactly had happened on his son's prom night—apart from the fact that his son _had_ gotten to slow dance with the boy he liked, something he may or may not have demanded Blaine do before Kurt made his way downstairs.

Blaine stood and held out his hand.

"What?" Kurt asked, eyebrow arching. "Where are we going?"

"C'mere." He whispered, gently tugging his boyfriend into a standing position.

"What are you doing? You're not about to propose or something are you?"

Blaine rested his hands on Kurt's hips, pulling him close. "Put your hands around my neck."

Kurt bit his lip, fighting a smile, and did as he was instructed. His heart was pounding and his stomach was doing cartwheels. "Blaine—"

"Shh." Blaine whispered, resting his forehead against Kurt's as they began to sway slowly together.

"But—"

"You talk entirely too much sometimes, Kurt. It's okay to be quiet." Blaine pressed his lips against Kurt's, tugging him closer. Kurt's mind was racing. Was he supposed to still be upset? Could he be happy that this was happening? He wanted to be happy. Blaine Anderson was a terrible person, lying and saying he was awful at romance.

Yes, Kurt decided, he could be happy. He kissed Blaine back, letting out a content little sigh. He could feel Blaine's hands on his hips, holding him close. He remembered at prom when they had stood like this how fast his heart had been beating, how excited he was, how he told himself he would remember every single detail to recount to Rachel and Mercedes, but how once he had been in the moment all he could do was stare into Blaine's hazel eyes without a care in the world. He didn't care that people were watching them in shock. No. Because Blaine Wyatt Anderson was _his_.

Kurt didn't even remember the song they had danced to, but it wasn't important. All that had been important was being so close to Blaine (because while they had kissed, they definitely hadn't been pressed together like _that_ ), looking into his eyes, seeing that small smile. He had been happy, so very happy. He had been able to tell Blaine was happy too and that only made him feel even more content.

"Kurt, I love you." Blaine murmured into his lips, breaking his thoughts.

"I love you too." Kurt pressed closer, not wanting the moment to end.

Blaine pulled away from the kiss and rested his head on Kurt's shoulder, swaying to music he could only hear in his head. Kurt danced with him slowly, arms still around his neck. He could smell Blaine's soap and it almost made him dizzy.

"This is my perfect moment, Kurt. It's just as perfect now as it was last May in your school's gymnasium. Maybe more perfect, because now we're alone. We don't have to worry about people staring. We can just be us, you and me. That's what I want out of life, Kurt. I want us." Blaine explained quietly, head rested on his shoulder still.

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life with me?" Kurt whispered in his ear as they moved.

"I can't imagine not seeing you every day, Kurt… I'll never feel this way about anyone else. Never. I want this. Forever."

Kurt pulled him closer quite roughly, crashing his lips against Blaine's in a desperate kiss. Blaine kissed back just as eagerly, moving them back onto the bed. Kurt whimpered and pulled Blaine on top of him, hands sliding over his broad shoulders and down his back. He felt Blaine shiver slightly and let his hand go to Blaine's neck, softly stroking the skin. His boyfriend let out a noise between a moan and a grunt, pressing himself against Kurt. Kurt groaned loudly at that. Payback was really a bitch when your hips connected together like that.

"Don't tease me." Blaine whimpered, kissing Kurt again.

Kurt arched slightly, wanting to feel that sensation when their hips connected again. The back of his mind told him to stop. He knew it was two weeks before he was medically allowed to have sex with his boyfriend. He was still weak, although he would never admit that out loud. He couldn't stop though. He'd spent weeks laying in bed with Blaine without even heavy make out sessions. He had always been too tired, Blaine had always pulled away before things got too heavy. He wished Blaine would pull away now because _he_ couldn't.

"No, Kurt. No." his boyfriend whispered, but he continued assaulting Kurt's mouth with his own after the words had been uttered.

Kurt let out a desperate moan, tugging at Blaine's hair lightly. He slid his tongue into Blaine's mouth and moaned again, this time in delight, when his boyfriend's tongue met his own. Their tongues danced, there way no other way to describe it apart from that. Several moans and groans were uttered, hands trying to roam but never getting quite far enough, quite low enough, to cause any _real_ problems. There were definitely problems but with the way their hips were grinding together it probably wouldn't be a problem for too much longer and Kurt was okay with that

His hands slid up Blaine's shirt and over his stomach. Blaine shuddered, eyes rolling into the back of his head.

"You're so sensitive to touch, Blaine Anderson." Kurt whispered into his lips.

"I hate you." Came the frustrated response as Blaine tried to shoo Kurt's hand away.

Kurt let his hand slide lower.

"No. _No_." Blaine's voice was very firm.

Kurt groaned in frustration and moved Blaine off of him. Blaine was panting and trying to catch his breath, eyes wide. Kurt took several deep breaths as well. If they didn't quit now, they wouldn't stop. As much as Kurt didn't _want_ to stop, he couldn't see himself explaining to his dad why he needed to go to the doctor. How had he hurt himself, if that was indeed possible. No. He had to wait another two weeks at least before he could do anything of the sort.

"Oh my god, I haven't been this horny since I was sixteen years old." Blaine muttered.

"How un-dapper of you, Blaine." Kurt gave his boyfriend an impish smile.

"Oh, shut up." Blaine leaned over. Kurt's breath caught in his throat, thinking Blaine was going to kiss him again. He definitely wanted _that_. Instead, though, Blaine messed up his hair and grinned.

"You have way too much fun doing that." Kurt mumbled as he sat up, straightening his shirt.

"You have way too much fun trying to get me riled up. Just for that, I'm going to make you watch ESPN with me and you're going to like it." Blaine grinned again.

Kurt looked into his hazel eyes, biting his lip. "Are we still fighting?"

"I think it's safe to say no." Blaine leaned forward and kissed him again quickly. "I'd appreciate not throwing stuff like that in my face just to upset me though…"

"Sorry." He mumbled, looking down. "I feel really bad about it, Blaine."

"I know." Blaine gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about it. Next time, though, I'm throwing out all your hair and face products. Just so we're clear."


	11. Chapter 11

"Wes, _I don't know what to get Kurt!"_

"I think the more important question is why you are calling me at 6:30 in the morning to tell me this, Blaine?" Grumbled Wes on the other end of the phone.

" _Because I don't want Kurt to know I'm calling you_!"

He heard a dial tone.

"Rude much? " Blaine grumbled, glancing at Kurt who was still fast asleep. His face lit up as his phone rang. "I knew you still loved me, Wes."

"I'm only calling back because you still have my Katy Perry CD and I want it back. I know I won't get it back if we aren't speaking." Wes gave a hug yawn. "Why are you whispering?"

"I don't want Kurt to hear me. I lied and told him I had his present picked out ages ago. _Christmas is next week, Wesley, and I am kind of freaking out!"_

"Why don't you just serenade him? You know when we did Somewhere Only You Know last year he started crying and everything, so…" Wes yawned again. "I bet he'd like that."

"I can't serenade him. I know you're in musical theater, Wesley, but music is not everything in life." Blaine sighed and carefully stood, tiptoeing out into the hall so he wouldn't wake Kurt. He carefully and quietly shut the bedroom door behind him and walked in the direction of the kitchen.

"I don't know. I'm too tired to think. Can't you call me at a reasonable hour? One after sunrise, perhaps?"

"Wesley, Wesley, remember that time your sister found that porn and I told her it was mine?"

Wes didn't answer. Blaine could picture him rolling his eyes.

"Or that time you burnt the Thanksgiving turkey and I paid off some woman for the last one so your mom wouldn't kill you?"

Silence.

"Or the—."

"Fine, Blaine! Fine! I'm awake. Did you try google or something? That's what I use to get ideas for all of Emma's presents."

Blaine's face screwed up. "No wonder you haven't gotten laid yet, Wes."

"How undapper of you, Blaine! What has college done to you? Or rather, what has sex with Kurt done to you? I bet you two are freaks in the—."

"Let's leave my sex out of this, Wes. He always wakes up really early now and I don't want him to find out I don't know what to get him. Or that I talk about my sex life. He won't let me live it down. So, _please_ , help me!" Blaine whispered frustrated and desperately. He knew he should have called David. David, the _nice_ one.

"Well what did you give him last year?" he heard rustling as Wes sat up.

Blaine mumbled, "A candy cane and a card?"

"Wow, Blaine, you suck at this… well… get him a gift card to Express?"

"I'm not getting my boyfriend a gift card for Christmas, Wes." Blaine sighed and sat at the kitchen table. "Do you think he'd like a baking pan? Carole says he likes to bake cookies." When he received no answer, he asked, "Wes, are you still there?"

"Yes. I'm trying to figure out how you are _gay_ and this terrible at stuff like this. I thought this stuff was supposed to be right up your alley." Wes snorted. "Okay, okay… a gift for Kurt… a sweater?"

"No, he's got completely bizarre taste in clothes." Blaine waved his hand as if Wes could actually see it, rolling his eyes.

"CD?"

Blaine banged his head on the table. "He's got every CD known to _man_ , Wes. His CD collection could take up an entire wall of your dorm. I. Am. So. Screwed."

"Calm yourself, Romeo. A book?"

"Kurt doesn't read unless it's about a musical or about someone musical related, and he's got all the good ones already. Mercedes and Quinn bought him the Judy Garland one that was just released when he was in the hospital. Damn them." He groaned. "What am I going to _do_?"

"Why don't you make him those stupid coupons? _Will give a ten minute blow job upon request. Will cover you in whip_ —."

"You kiss your mother with that mouth, Wesley? And somehow I don't think Kurt would appreciate that gift… he'd probably find it repulsive, actually. He can't even watch porn without having an anxiety attack."

"The next time you pick a boyfriend, don't pick such a difficult one." Wes whined. "Take him to a show right before or after Christmas? Take him for a trip somewhere? Make him a mix CD full of sweet songs you two sing along with? Take a dancing class with him?"

"No, no, no, that isn't good enough. This is _Kurt._ And for the record, there won't _be_ another boyfriend."

There was stunned silence and then Wes went softly, "Wow… really? You two are that serious? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I… I don't know. A lot has been going on and it's a lot to say over a text or a five minute conversation before your Lit class, I guess…" Blaine looked outside and watched the snow falling, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "But, yeah… it's that serious."

"Well… then you need to get him something serious, I guess… it's really _serious?_ Like serious enough to say you'd want to run to Canada and marry him?"

"I mean I'm not about to run off with him and elope. Any time soon." Blaine laughed loudly. "He's still in high school, Wes."

"Right. I forget he's younger than us." Wes still sounded rather stunned. "Dude, really? It's _that_ serious?"

"Yes. Now do you see why I am _freaking out_? That is the issue at hand here, Wes. I want to give him something special, something perfect, something he— oh my God. I know what to get him. I've got to go, Wes! Thanks, you're a genius."

"Blaine, I didn't even s—."

"Bye!" Blaine snapped his phone shut and ran back to Kurt's bedroom. He was still fast asleep, hugging Blaine's pillow to his chest. Could he make it to the garage and back before Kurt woke up? Well, he'd have to try.

He tugged on shoes and his jacket, grabbed his car keys, and ran excitedly from the house. Where had all of this energy come from? He made the short drive to the garage, but the door was still locked. He banged on the door loudly and it took several minutes for Burt to open it, already covered in oil.

"Blaine? What's wrong? Where's Kurt? Is he alright?" he looked behind Blaine, to the empty car.

"Kurt's at home. Can we talk?"

Burt looked hesitant. The last two talks they had had in this garage hadn't gone well. One had been about Kurt's sex talk, one an argument with Blaine's parents. Needless to say he wasn't anticipating anything good. But this was good. This was _amazing_. Because Blaine was a _genius_. And he'd come up with it all on his own. Well, practically.

"Sure, kid. Come on in and lock that door behind you. Jeff won't be in for another hour and I don't want customers coming in yet. We're not open." Burt grunted, making his way back into the garage. There was country music playing from a small radio in the back of the garage and a red car's hood was up.

Blaine stepped in and closed the door. It was so warm in comparison to how cold it was outside and Blaine, who was shivering and probably should have worn different shoes, was very grateful for this.

"Alright. What's going on? You don't look like you're about to tell me you've had a change of heart and are going back to Kentucky or something like that." Burt wiped his hands on a hand towel that was sitting on one of the counters.

"I know what I want to get Kurt for Christmas. I lied and told him I knew ages ago, but now I actually do know. I just need to ask your permission—."

"You're not about to propose to Kurt are you?" Burt's eyes widened and he dropped the towel. "I mean… I…"

"No! Oh no, not yet. I'm not even nineteen yet and I don't plan on getting married until I'm 24 at least. 24 to 26, you know." Blaine said quickly, putting his hands up. "No way. Not yet."

The color that had drained from Burt's face slowly returned. "34 to 36 is a better time slot for marriage, I'd say. Especially when my son is involved… but what did you want to ask?"

Blaine took a deep breath and blurted out, "I want to buy Kurt a puppy."

Burt blinked at him a few times, but Blaine couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

"It's the only thing he wants and, to be completely honest, there is nothing else in the world I can think to get him. He's got _everything_. There is nothing else to get that boy." Blaine looked down. "Plus, I want to get him something he'll really like… and I know he'd love a dog. It might help take his mind off of things."

Burt let out a resigned sigh and nodded. "I did promise him he could have one, even if he doesn't remember… I suppose you can get him a dog… but how exactly do you plan to find a dog on such short notice?"

"I was thinking… my old boss from Kennedy's… his brother's dog was about to have puppies a few months ago. I thought I'd call him and see if there were any that he wanted to sell. If not… I'll find one. I know I will."

Burt nodded, eyes still on Blaine. "Alright then… if you're going all that way to get it, though, I suggest you let Kurt go with you. That way you can be sure he likes it. He's very picky about… well, about everything."

Blaine _definitely_ knew all about that, so he nodded. "Thanks, Mr. Hummel."

"Look… I actually wanted to talk to you. Let's go back here and sit." Burt headed back towards the office. Blaine, feeling very anxious and wondering what he'd done wrong, nodded and followed his boyfriend's father. Had he heard about Finn walking in on them making out? All clothes had definitely been on. Surely not. Burt gestured to a chair and sat in one across from it.

Blaine took the seat across from Burt nervously. "Yeah?"

"How are you holding up, kid? With your parents and all… and then that fight with Kurt a few weeks ago…"

Blaine inwardly let out a sigh of relief. "I'm doing alright, I guess… this stuff with my parents, it was bound to happen eventually."

"Do you know what you're going to do come next fall?"

"I want to go to UK, I think… unless Kurt goes far away, then I—."

"If you want to go to UK, Blaine, you need to go to UK. You've sacrificed more than enough to be with Kurt." Burt interrupted him. "The fact is, you're in school for English and maybe pre-law. He wants to go into clothes or whatever. Very different things and that may mean different schools. You like UK?"

"Very much, sir." Blaine said quietly, looking down.

"Then you should go back to UK next fall and make sure you take spring classes at school here that will transfer." Burt leaned back against his chair and sighed. "Did your parents pay for your schooling?"

Blaine tugged at his hair a bit. "Yeah, they did. I don't have that figured out yet, but I'll—"

Burt pulled something out of a desk drawer and passed it to Blaine. "Carole and I discussed this. A lot. And we both think it's the right thing to do. You… you helped us a lot by coming up here, Blaine. If you hadn't come up here, I would have had to shut down the garage for months to take care of Kurt... We want you to take this and use it for school and… and for a place with Kurt if he stays close, or a place for yourself if he doesn't. That's enough for four years at UK and some extra."

"I can't take this." Blaine said hoarsely, staring down at the check in shock.

"The facts are you wouldn't be in this position if it weren't for you coming down here to help with Kurt."

"Kurt wanted me here, I wanted to _be_ here."

"I know." Burt nodded. "I know that. I also know that you care about my son a hell of a lot. And my son cares about you a hell of a lot. I want my son to be taken care of when he moves out of my house. The only way for me to _know_ he will be taken care of is if you have a college education. There would be no question what you'd be doing next fall if it weren't for you coming to help my family out, Blaine. I'm not going to let your parents take an education from you because you did a good thing for my son. I'm just not." He sighed heavily. "The money will be going to a very good place."

"Kurt starts college next year too, and Finn—."

"Finn is on a football scholarship and Kurt has had a college fund set up since before he was born, Blaine. You don't even have to tell Kurt about this if you don't want to. I can't rest at night if I know you're in debt to your eyeballs because you love my son. It's not right. And when it comes down to it… that's what this cutting you off thing is about."

"It's not _right_ , sir, but…"

"I want to know that _you_ will be okay and that _Kurt_ will be okay." Burt leaned forward. "This is how I can make sure that it happens."

"It's out of state tuition. That's—."

"Money well spent." The older man said firmly. "You can repay me by taking care of my son."

Blaine stared down at the check. $72,000. That was enough for four entire years at UK and enough left over to feel comfortable living away from home. He mouthed wordlessly. The biggest thing on his mind lately was tuition. He had even resolved to go to OSU just because in state tuition would have been much cheaper. "I… uhm… thank you." He finally whispered. "You didn't have to do this. You still don't have to…"

"We want to. You can tell Kurt if you want, but you don't have to. It really is money well spent… just… use it well. Do good in school. That way if you want to go to law school, you can. That way you and Kurt can be well taken care of. I worry… him wanting a major in clothing designing or whatever. That's… That sounds like it'd be hard to get a good job, you know? It's what he wants, I'm not going to tell him that he shouldn't do it. But I just worry. He's my kid, you know. I suppose I have to… but I worry less when he's with you, Blaine. When he's with you, I know he's in good hands."

"Kurt will be fine." Blaine said softly, still trying to process everything that had happened in the last three minutes. "He can… he can make it in the fashion industry."

Burt nodded and stood. "If things get to be too much, you can talk to Carole and I. I know Kurt can be a little stressful right now but the kid… he's trying. He's getting better. But I want you to know that if you ever want to talk, even about Kurt, you can come to us. Or Finn. I better get back to work on this car, though. The lady calls every hour on the hour about it and if I don't get it out of my garage, I may kill her. Plus, you should get back to Kurt."

Blaine nodded and, still holding his check, made his way for the door. He turned back around and looked at his boyfriend's father. "Thanks again, Mr. Hummel… I… I will use it well. I promise."

Burt nodded. "I know you will. Merry Christmas, Blaine."

Blaine folded the check, zipped his jacket, and jogged back out to his car. It was still relatively warm despite having been shut off and in the cold for fifteen minutes. He pulled the check out of his pocket and stared at it for several long minutes before putting it back into his pocket. He was going to make sure he did as well as possible in school. There would be no more goofing off, no procrastinating, no half ass doing homework assignments. He was going to do well and get into law school and take care of Kurt. He owed Burt that much, considering the man had just given him a check for $72,000.

Once he got back to the house, he crept in and quietly closed the door. Kurt was curled up on the couch, the only part of him uncovered by his blanket being his head. He turned slightly and his eyes lit up. "Good morning!"

Blaine smiled, enjoying seeing Kurt so happy. "Hey, my love. Did you sleep well?" he approached the couch and leaned down to kiss the top of his boyfriend's head.

"Yeah. That Lunesta really helps." Kurt nodded, smiling. "Sit and watch What Not to Wear with me?"

"Is that a hint?" Blaine laughed, lifting the blanket and sliding underneath it with Kurt.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine, pulling him close. "No. When I watch it with Rachel, however, it is."

Blaine snorted, relaxing against his boyfriend. Kurt's fingers ran through his hair as they watched the show, Blaine not even really paying attention.

"I have to go with Mercedes to the mall tomorrow… she's still got to do most of her Christmas shopping apparently. We're going to try to hit it early in the morning so we don't have a Black Friday Fiasco repeat. You can't come though. No offense or anything. I've got to pick up your present. Which you are going to _totally_ love, by the way." Kurt was whispering quietly in his ear, half paying attention to the show.

"That's okay. I've got to sign up for an orientation to take those online and night classes next semester anyway. I'll figure out the website when you're out… but you'll leave if you start to feel sick like that again, right?" he turned slightly to look at his younger boyfriend. He really didn't like the idea of Kurt being out without him, but he had to admit Kurt had been doing much better over the last few weeks. He had handled getting his second round of stitches out much better than the first time, he was much more cheerful without being on so many different pills, and now that he was moving around more and not as sluggish he had began to lose his extra weight just as Blaine had predicted.

There were still some days when he'd lay around and stare off into space, a very strange look on his face. He'd cheer right up, though, when Blaine sat next to him, put a hand on his leg, and leaned over to kiss his forehead. Or, in the moments when Blaine wasn't at his side, when Carole would bring him some ice cream that she _claimed_ was non-fat in an attempt to not only cheer the boy up but "put some weight on his bones" too.

Kurt was doing better. Plus, he had to get used to Kurt not being twenty feet away at all times. He would eventually be going back to school, so it would probably be better to get used to it now. They couldn't spend whole life together attached at the hip unfortunately.

"I don't think I will. But I promised Mercedes that if I needed a break I'd tell her. She's still rather pissed off that she had to leave the mall early on Black Friday."

"I think she's more pissed off that you didn't tell us you felt sick." Blaine pointed out, snuggling close to him.

"Or that." Kurt rubbed Blaine's arm absentmindedly. "Where were you?"

"I went down to the garage to have a talk with your dad."

"Ooh, do tell." Kurt said, sounding very interested.

Blaine dug the folded check out of his pocket and passed it behind him to Kurt.

"Woah! I wish I got $72,000 every time I went down to the garage to visit him. Did you sell him your soul or something? Because there's a new pair of shoes I really want and—hey! Stop tickling me!"

Blaine, who had turned around to tickle him, grinned. "Those shoes look silly."

"They're fashionable. Something you know nothing— stop tickling me!" Kurt let out loud giggles, curling as much as he could on the cramped couch. "Stop it, stop! You know fashion, you know fashion!"

He ceased his tickling and ruffled Kurt's hair. "It's for college. He feels bad I think, so he gave me money to go to UK and… to get an apartment… One with you. If you go to school close enough that we can do so, that is."

Kurt sat up, looking at Blaine. "He gave you $72,000 for college? No joke?"

"No joke. I wasn't expecting it at all… It was really nice though… I still feel bad taking it." Blaine admitted, biting his lip. He hadn't asked for the money, but he still felt bad.

Kurt passed the check back to him. "It was a gift that you should take. Otherwise you may have a hard time going back to school… dad's got plenty of money coming in from the garage. He wouldn't have given it to you if he couldn't have afforded it. I told you he loved you."

Blaine smiled a bit, sitting up straight next to Kurt. "I really like your family, you know. Carole is just amazing and I think your dad should write books… and Finn…"

"Finn's just something else entirely." Kurt snorted. "He's going to be homeless and starve to death if he doesn't get married right out of college."

Blaine laid his head on Kurt's shoulder, taking the younger boy's hand. "Do he and Rachel ever talk?"

"No… well, Rachel didn't say anything about it the other day when she visited. She was very pleasant, actually. And Leroy sent over cookies with her. I don't know why everyone is so eager to fatten me up. I'm trying my hardest to lose those seven pounds. If I don't lose it before school starts, I'll just die." Kurt's head rested on top of Blaine's and he squeezed his boyfriend's hand. "I hope Carole likes the sweater I got her. It will bring out her eyes."

"I'm sure she will love it, Kurt. You are, after all, the shopping king… are there any of those cookies left?"

Kurt laughed and stood. "Yes. I'll be right back." He ruffled Blaine's hair, kissed the top of his head, and headed towards the kitchen. He later returned with a metal tin that was still almost completely full with cookies. "I like the swirly ones. But you can have some too, I suppose."

"Kurt's learned to share. I'm so proud of you, my love." Blaine pulled out two of them and bit into one. "The swirly ones are my favorite too. I know they're technically all the same type of cookie… but these taste so much better."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "For someone who grew up with such a perfect family, you sure talk with your mouth full of food a lot."

"S'cause I like to annoy you, Mr. Hummel." Blaine shoved the other cookie into his mouth. "And now I'd like to go shower."

"Hurry back." Kurt kissed his cheek.

"I will."

* * *

"I don't get why the mall isn't busier than it is. It's the last full weekend before Christmas. Where are all the frantic shoppers and the crazy grannies with their canes?" Kurt muttered, sipping on the milkshake that Mercedes had forcibly bought and given him.

"I can handle no crazy grannies right now. My crazy granny is already at the house for Christmas and I feel like cutting them all. You want to talk about crazy black people, come home with me for an hour. Mom wants to see you by the way. She says you're the only white boy she can tolerate."

Kurt snorted loudly. "So what is on your list? I just have to pick up Blaine's tickets from Ticket Master."

"Tickets?" Mercedes questioned, taking some tots out of the Styrofoam cup Sonic had given her and putting them into her mouth.

"Katy Perry will be in Tennessee in March. I got him two tickets. Not that I even like Katy Perry. She's incredibly tacky and autotuned."

"You sure like Teenage Dream." Mercedes nudged him and grinned.

"I like any song Blaine has ever sang. He could sing Baby Got Back—the worst song ever made—and I'd end up liking it. It's not something I admire in myself, either. I have a Blaine playlist on my ipod. Oh god, did I say that out loud?"

Mercedes let out a loud laugh. "White Boy, you have got it bad! How many songs are in this playlist?"

"Fifty three." Kurt admitted, rather embarrassed. "He sings along with stuff in the car a lot."

Mercedes just shook her head and pulled him over to a scarf display. "Think my mom would like this one?"

"Gross, that's hideous. Get the blue one." Kurt said instantly. He couldn't help it. He was brutally honest when it came to shopping. It was something many people didn't like about him, but Mercedes would not have brought him along if she hadn't valued his opinion.

Mercedes grabbed the blue one because Kurt was, of course, right. He always was. She glanced at Kurt. "Quit staring at that girl's clothes. I don't want to have to cut a bitch when she gets mad and tries to act all big and bad."

"She's wearing gray Uggs and a khaki mini skirt. Does she know what a mirror is? Clearly she needs some guidance, Mercedes. And that sweater is hideous. Who wears thick sweaters with mini skirts and Uggs?"

"I don't know. You white people are crazy." She held out her cup. "Want a tot?"

"No thanks. Everyone keeps feeding me all these disgusting greasy things. Blaine took me to KFC for lunch yesterday because he was too lazy to cook. And then for dinner he ate two bags of Doritos. Spicy Nacho, might I add. I can still smell it on his breath." Kurt groaned. "I don't know how he is so thin, 'Cedes. He's like a trash compactor for junk food."

"Well you know opposites attract." She pointed out.

"Do you know what Blaine said to me the other day?" he suddenly gasped. "He told me—no, really. He told me that he _doesn't like Wicked_. He doesn't like Wicked! Does he _know_ who he's dating, Mercedes? He told me it was stupid! I almost had to say 'hell to the no' but he was too busy opening up a bag of Bugles to even care."

"Silver or gold?" Mercedes held up two necklaces.

"For whom? I mean he doesn't like Wicked? What kind of person doesn't like Wicked, Mercedes?"

"For my demon sister. She's trying to pretend she's a diva now. It's kind of cute, really."

"Gold. Oh and _Finn kissed Rachel_. Yes, he went there after I explicitly told him not to. She had me on the phone until 3 in the morning. _I knew we were meant for each other_. _It was only a matter of time before we got back together_. _He's a much better kisser than your boyfriend, Kurt. He's so tall and I'm short. We'll have perfect medium sized babies_. They're killing me. If they break up again I'm checking myself into a mental institution to avoid the drama."

"Hot Mama and Justin Timberlake are dating again? This is going to be all we hear about at Glee Club after the break, isn't it?" Mercedes sighed.

"Well, you will. I won't." Kurt attempted to laugh but it didn't quite sound that way. It ended up being a sigh.

"When are you coming back, Baby? You look good." She looked at him sadly. "I miss you. I have to sit with Rachel alone at lunch every single day. And Glee Club... it's just not fun anymore."

Kurt leaned over her a bit. "I have a meeting with my doctor after Christmas. Dad's going with me. And right before the break Mr. Schue brought over a lot of make up work for me to get caught up on. Probably the beginning of February… but I won't be able to come back to New Directions…" he sipped his milk shake.

"Why so long? You seem fine."

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I feel fine and others… I just don't. Mainly I'll just feel really tired. It's always very sudden. That's why they don't like to let me drive for longer than a few minutes. I could probably go back after the break, but I'll need time to get caught up and stuff… Dr. Gibbons is trying to give me a break, I think."'

Mercedes just draped an arm around him as they walked. "Well if you can't drive when you get to go back, I'll pick you up."

"Thanks, 'Cedes." Kurt gave her a grin and then gasped. "That'd be so cute on you. Go try it on. Right now."

* * *

"Kurt… Kurt, come on. Wake up." Blaine whispered, letting his fingers run up and down his boyfriend's back. "Baby, wake up."

Kurt whimpered, eyes narrowing. "It's too early."

"Shush and get in the shower. There's a snow storm coming tonight and we've got something very important to do today" Blaine patted his shoulder. "I'll have some scrambled eggs ready for you when you get out. And a nice glass of apple juice."

"But its Christmas Eve. I want to sleep in. W-we were out late." He yawned.

"Ten o'clock hardly counts as late, Kurt." The older boy let out a loud laugh, fingers stroking his hair. "Come on. I promise you, it will be well worth getting up. In fact, you will never love me any more than you love me today. So get up."

"You're so frustrating, Blaine Anderson." Kurt climbed out of bed.

"Hey, hey, kiss me."

"I don't know if I want to. You're waking me up at 8 in the morning on Christmas Eve." The smaller boy frowned.

Blaine placed his hands on Kurt's shoulders and leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. He then pulled away and grinned. "I have a feeling you'll want to kiss me a lot here in a few hours, so I'll just let you pout and grumble."

Kurt put his hand on Blaine's and gave him a sleepy half-smile. "Sit in the bathroom and talk to me while I take a shower?"

"No, sir. I have to make you breakfast. So hurry up. Don't worry about fixing your hair or doing your silly moisturizing face stuff either. We don't have time and you're beautiful just the way you are." He kissed Kurt's cheek and stepped out of the room, calling behind him, "Don't wear anything too expensive either, Kurt!"

He jogged into the kitchen, positively excited. He really was the smartest person in the world. Okay, maybe not the smartest person in the world. But he was about to give Kurt the best Christmas present ever. It was rather unfortunate that he couldn't actually give it to him _on_ Christmas Day but this would still be good.

Today they were going to drive down to Harrodsburg, Kentucky. His boss's brother didn't have any puppies left, but luckily someone else the man knew did. He had little Coton De Tulears that were 8 weeks old and ready to be adopted out. The puppies usually were sold for $1,800 but because Blaine was so awesome (okay, because he had connections with the brother), they were going to sell a puppy to Blaine for $500. He could definitely handle that. He still had $3,000 in his savings account. Besides, he had looked the dogs up online and decided that they were adorable. It was going to be well worth his money, though, just to see the look on Kurt's face when he found out what they were doing.

Kurt appeared in the kitchen about ten minutes later in jeans and a red sweater. He yawned and rubbed his eyes adorably. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise." Blaine said cheerfully, handing him a plate of eggs. "Eat up, eat up! We've got a long drive and we're going have to go straight through to beat the storm, but I'm confident we can do it."

He was practically bouncing with excitement, but Kurt must have written it off as him being excited about Christmas because he just began to eat his eggs, yawning. Thanks to Blaine's incessant "hurry upppp"s, Kurt had finished his eggs in just under five minutes and was forcibly dragged out the door ("The car is already on, put your jacket on when we get out of the car!").

"Why are we on I-75?" Kurt arched his eyebrow as Blaine merged onto the highway a few minutes later. "Why are we on I-75 South?"

"Not telling you yet." Blaine sang. "I'll tell you in about thirty more minutes. That will allow for adequate squealing time before you have to get out of the car and make a decision."

"Decision about what? You can't do this to me, Blaine. I don't have patience like you." His boyfriend moaned, pulling at the hand that was not on the steering wheel. "Tell me, tell me."

"No, no."

"Please?"

"No."

" _Pleeeease_?"

"No, sir. I am not opening my mouth until 9:30." He laughed when Kurt admitted defeat and sagged against the seat, putting his feet up on the dashboard. He had to admit, five minutes later, that he was surprised at how well Kurt was taking his rejection. The two sat in comfortable silence, but only ten more minutes had passed before Blaine finally caved in. "We're going to get a puppy!"

"We're going to get a puppy?" Kurt shrieked.

"We're going to get a puppy!" Blaine exclaimed, immensely proud of himself. Who had picked out the best Christmas present ever? He had! And he'd done so almost entirely on his own. Seeing Kurt so excited warmed his entire heart. He hadn't seen the younger boy this happy in a very, very long time. He missed it and hoped it would stay this way. Maybe the puppy would be just what Kurt needed.

"Ah, we're going to get a puppy!" Kurt started bouncing up and down like a little kid that had been promised candy if he was good. "Where is it? What kind? Where, where, where? Does Dad know? Can I name it Kreacher? Can it sleep in my bed? Can it follow me around? Can it wag its tail?"

"It's in Kentucky, it's a Coton De Tulear and you get to pick between three, your father knows and approves, you can name it whatever you'd like as long as you don't pick the name Fido, and I guess it can sleep wherever you want… it will probably follow you around because you're adorable… and finally, I think all dogs wag their tails!" Blaine said, growing more excited with each squeal Kurt gave. And he wasn't even a dog person. First he had been excited because he was going to give Kurt the perfect present. Now he was just excited because Kurt was excited.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! I've been waiting for twelve years, I can't wait any longer! _Hurrrrry_!"

Blaine laughed and began to drive a little faster, eliciting more claps and cheers from his boyfriend who had apparently adopted the mindset of a seven year old.

There was _no way_ Kurt was going to top this present. Ever. Unless he got him Katy Perry tickets of course but he knew _that_ wasn't going to happen.

…

"Shh, we have to act normal now." Blaine laughed as he got out of the car fifty minutes later, buttoning up his jacket. It had begun to snow just as they'd passed Lexington and was already starting to pick up. "And we need to try to be quick."

"I'm so excited, I'm so excited!" Kurt chanted over and over as they made it to the door of the house.

"Kurt and Blaine?" An older man smiled and opened the door. "Henry said you'd be dropping by about now. How are you?"

"Great." Blaine gave the old man a friendly smile.

"Can we see the puppies now?" Kurt asked, sounding exasperated.

"You sure can!" the man laughed. "They're right in the garage with the space heater. I'll show you where it's at and leave you two to decide which one you want."

They followed the man to the garage and Kurt walked excitedly to the little box.

"That one!" he said instantly before Blaine had even had a chance to get all the way over there. Two of the puppies were running around and playing within the box, hopping and rolling over each other. The third one sat off to the side, getting rather excited when the man poured some food into a bowl.

"That is him, that is the one I want, him, him, him. I don't need another minute. Him, Blaine. Him."

"Are you sure about that, boy? He doesn't do much at all. He just eats and lies around." The man laughed, setting the bag of food against the wall of the garage.

"Well apparently I like things that just eat and lay around—ow, Blaine!"

"I do not just eat and lay around!" Blaine pouted. "I do other things too. Like read."

"While you lay around and eat." Kurt said cheerfully, picking up the puppy. "You are my new best friend, yes you are. You can have Blaine's spot on the bed because apparently he doesn't lie around. We'll have great fun eating together!"

Blaine rolled his eyes and pulled out five $100 bills. "I'm guessing we'll be taking the fat one."

Kurt toddled off to the car with his new puppy as Blaine talked to the breeder about the proper ways to care for their new pet. While doing this his eyes kept darting to Kurt who was sitting in the front seat of the car, door wide open, and seemingly having a very in-depth conversation with his dog about the importance of never going near Kurt's shoes, "no matter how yummy they look."

When Blaine finally got into the car, Kurt turned to him. "I'm just laying down the law with him. It's never to early to set rules."

Blaine smiled, starting the car. "Merry Christmas, Kurt."

Kurt leaned forward, pressing his lips to Blaine's. "Thank you! So much! I love Christmas! It's officially my new favorite holiday. If Christmas is this awesome though, I can't wait to see what I get for Valentine's Day!"

Damn. Blaine hadn't thought about that. Maybe he should have gone with the baking pan.


	12. Chapter 12

Kurt stared at himself for several minutes in the mirror, taking in his appearance. His head tilted. He looked almost the same as he had last October when his attack happened, but now it was February and he felt like a completely different person. To be quite honest, he was.

Blaine opened the bathroom door and came in, looking sleepy. "You ready for school?"

"No." Kurt frowned, crossing his arms over this chest. By now people would know without a doubt why Kurt had disappeared from school so long. One of two things would happen: either everyone that knew him would make a big fuss over him going back to McKinley or they would act as if nothing had happened. He really didn't know which of the two was worse. He _really_ didn't feel like having Blaine and Burt multiplied by ten, but if nobody even noticed… well, that would hurt his feelings.

Blaine put his hands on Kurt's shoulders and kissed his cheek. "Today will go by very fast, my love. And when you get home you'll take a nice nap and by time you wake up I'll be back from classes."

The younger boy grunted and sighed. "I don't want to go back."

He felt Blaine's hand squeeze his shoulder. "You've got to go back. Your make up work is all done, you're medication free, and all of those expensive clothes in your closet are going to waste while you lay around in my $10 pajama pants… it's time to start your life again."

"I'm not ready for things to go back to normal." Kurt whispered, still staring at himself in the mirror. He closed his eyes when Blaine kissed his cheek again. "It just… I don't know."

"I thought you would be ecstatic to go back now that you know you're good to join New Directions again, Kurt… and if Karofsky sends one look your way, text me and I'll round up every graduated Warbler within a 100 mile radius and we'll kick his ass."

"Curse words sound so funny coming out of your mouth, Blaine." Kurt sighed softly, but he was smiling a bit.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" Blaine questioned, kissing his shoulder.

"I've been fine to drive for two weeks. I'll be just… fine." He was now not focusing on himself in the mirror but a very sleepy looking Blaine.

Blaine rested his head on Kurt's shoulder, having to lean up just a bit to do so, and looked in the mirror too. "We're such an adorable couple."

"You're so conceited." Kurt laughed and leaned back against him. "But I guess we kind of are."

"You'll be just fine, sweetie. I promise. I'd offer to take you for ice cream after I get home but you _don't like junk food_." Blaine mimicked his voice quite well and grinned.

"I might be able to be talked into an ice cream… possibly. Depending on how bad today goes, I guess. Why are you pouting?"

"I was hoping to wake up early enough to mess up your hair before you fixed it." Blaine admitted, sliding his arms around Kurt's thin waist and rocking him gently. "It's okay. There's always tomorrow morning."

Kurt closed his eyes and relaxed in his arms, wanting nothing more than to get back into bed and fall asleep with him. Blaine hummed quietly in his ear, lips brushing against his skin.

"Kurt, it's time for you to go!" Burt called from downstairs.

He held back a sigh when Blaine's arms moved from his waist and the humming stopped. "Don't make me go."

"You've got to, babe. You can't hide in here forever. The longer you wait, the harder it will be." His boyfriend whispered.

"Alright, alright." Kurt nodded and turned to face Blaine.

"You will be perfectly fine. You'll sit in classes, you'll eat lunch with Mercedes and Rachel where you three will no doubt talk about boys that are not me, and then you'll sit in more classes, and then you'll go to Glee Club where everyone will shower you with love, affection, and attention—something we both know you crave, so don't even act like you don't want it." He smiled and cupped Kurt's face in his hand. "And I'll be home probably an hour after you. And we'll go get some ice cream—not the nonfat stuff, either. _Real_ ice cream.— and then we'll both do our homework together."

"You're forgetting the other big one." Kurt sighed.

"What?"

"The college talk. Applications are due in two weeks and we still keep putting off what we want to do…"

"We'll talk about it over the ice cream. We'll walk around downtown with our ice cream and talk about it."

Kurt's eyebrow arched. "We'll walk outside with ice cream in the middle of winter in Ohio?"

"… Yeah, I didn't think that through very well… we'll get an ice cream and eat in inside. _Then_ we will go and get coffee." His eyes lit up. "Or maybe hot chocolate! And then we will walk around downtown and talk it over drinking our coffee. We'll be very cute all bundled up."

"Okay, I have to go." Kurt kissed him quickly. "I'll see you tonight, Blaine."

"Have a good day, Kurt. Don't worry about stuff." Blaine kissed him back. "I love you."

"I love you too." Kurt smiled, kissed him one last time, and headed off to school.

* * *

Kurt had barely opened his locker when he was attacked. Well, he thought he was attacked. Turns out Tina was just very happy to see him. "Kurt! I knew you were coming back today so I wore these shoes just for you. Do you like them?" she extended her leg out to reveal bright purple converses.

Kurt laughed and moved to hug her. "I love them!"

"I've missed you so much! I can't wait for glee club today. It just hasn't been the same without you. We need someone to fight for our rights to solos now."

"Well I'm back. Again. I think I've left and come back more than Rachel did way back when New Directions first started up." He joked, grabbing two books out of his locker. His eyes scanned the small picture of he and Blaine from Kurt's eighteenth birthday party. They were seated outside in the back yard at a table and Blaine's arms were around Kurt's waist. The two boys, oblivious to the fact that a picture was being taken, just smiled at each other in this goofy and loving way. It was Kurt's favorite picture. Not just his favorite picture of _them_ , but his favorite picture _ever_. He had never seen a picture cuter than that one.

Tina's eyes went to the picture as well—it was kind of hard not to when the boy was paying so much attention to it— and she smiled. "That's a really cute picture of you two, Kurt!"

"Thanks." Kurt tore his eyes away from the picture and back to his friend. "I'd been looking for it. I forgot I had it in here."

"Kurt, it's just so good to see you!" she suddenly exclaimed again and hugged him around the middle, squeezing him tightly. "I'm so glad you're back and okay. We've all been really worried."

He pulled away and flashed her an adorable smile. "It's nice to be back… I guess… I just have to get used to all of this again. It was kind of nice doing all my school work while watching Project Runway reruns. I better get to class though. AP French 2."

"Fine. But New Directions after school today. Don't forget, Hummel!" she pointed a finger at him and then waved happily. "I'll see you later!"

_Okay_ , Kurt thought. _That could have been worse. It could have been much worse_.

* * *

Blaine went into the bedroom expecting to see him working on homework but instead found him fast asleep in bed and hugging Blaine's pillow. Kreacher, as Kurt had named their puppy, was also asleep an sprawled over Kurt's feet. Blaine climbed into the bed and kissed Kurt's cheek. "Babe?"

"Mmmh, you're home?" Kurt asked, eyes still closed.

"Yeah. We got out a little early today. How was school?"

"New Directions threw a little party. We didn't even sing. Everyone just sat around, ate cookies, and talked… it was nice. Mercedes and Rachel got me caught up on all the New Directions drama during lunch, too."

"New Directions drama is always juicy." Blaine said quite eagerly.

"And you try to act like drama doesn't interest you." Kurt moved his legs from under his puppy, leading to a series of barks—barks which would have been much more threatening if he were not a very tiny puppy. "My puppy is so cute." Kurt reached down and scooped the puppy up, cradling him like it was a baby.

Blaine smiled, rubbing Kurt's shoulder. "I'm glad you like him, Kurt... even if he constantly tries to get in the middle of us when we're sleeping."

"It's just because he loves us." Kurt said, squeezing his puppy. The dog just yipped playfully. "Kreacher loves his Kurt and Blaine, doesn't he? Oh yes he does."

Blaine rolled his eyes and stood up."C'mon. Let's go have a date night and discuss _our future_." He put emphasis on the last two words in an attempt to make it sound scary but that attempt failed.

"I'm so scared." Kurt mock gasped, but he got out of bed and slipped into a pair of boots.

"You've got to tell me all the New Directions drama on the way. Does it concern Brittany? She's my favorite, you know. I kind of want to just adopt her." Blaine, who was still had his jacket on, said as he tossed Kurt's jacket at him. "I really like Santana too."

"Brittany and Santana graduated with Finn, Puck, and Quinn last year. And surprisingly, the gossip isn't too fruitful. Then again, school has only been back in session two weeks. Give it time." Kurt said as he tugged the jacket on, sending his poor puppy into a frenzy. "I'm going to come back, you silly thing. We're just going to get ice cream."

"I want hot chocolate. And a cookie. And maybe a muffin too."

Kurt picked up the puppy again and said, with a very serious expression, "And this is why Blaine will die when he's forty. He will be a fat old man who dreams of the days when he used to be under 400 pounds." The dog licked him on the face, tail wagging. "But that's okay. He's going to be a big fancy lawyer so he'll leave us all kinds of money. We can go to the opera every night with my new boyfriend named… well, I'll work on picking out his name later."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Just because your idea of unhealthy snacking is disgusting peanut butter and celery doesn't mean I'm going to get up to 400 pounds. And plus, Kurt, you are quite a lot of cheesecake during November and December."

"I was eating _my_ cheesecake while you were eating your Cool Ranch Doritos, Spicy Nacho Doritos, Honey and BBQ Fritos, chips and salsa, cherry pie almost obsessively, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald's, Long John Silver's—."

"Fast food is all I ate when I was at UK, Kurt. When you're in college it becomes a way of life."

"No. You were like that at Dalton too. I saw that stash of junk food." Kurt accused, pointing a finger at him. "And can we just, for a moment, talk about how disgusting _pig skins_ are?"

Blaine put his hands on his shoulders, turned him around, and walked him to the stairs. "You eat your rabbit food and I'll eat my junk food."

Kurt turned around when they got to the stairs. "My dad ate a lot of fast food before his heart attack… and I don't want to have to go through anything like that again. Ever." He said softly, looking in his eyes.

"Kurt, I'm not even nineteen for another two months. I'm not going to have a heart attack any time soon." Blaine touched his face. "But if it makes you feel better I'll only get a cookie."

The younger boy sighed. "If you have a heart attack, don't expect sympathy. All you're going to get is a _big, fat_ I told you so."

"I would expect no less from you." Blaine laughed. "Now let's go talk college and commitment. Something every male in the world dreads."

They made their way outside, Kurt locking the door, and got into Kurt's Lincoln Navigator.

"This is such a big car for someone so tiny." His boyfriend said cheerfully as he buckled his seat belt.

"Funny. Mercedes says the same thing about yours." Kurt grinned as he started the car. He knew this conversation wouldn't go over well with Blaine.

"I am _not_ tiny." The older boy scoffed.

"You are an inch and a half shorter than me." Kurt pointed out, mainly just to get a reaction out of his boyfriend. It worked.

"I am _not_. That thing _lies_. It lies. I am older, I weigh more, and therefore I am taller."

"No. You are older and you weigh more but you are not taller."

"You know what? You can buy me two cookies for that statement."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Do you really want ice cream _and_ hot chocolate, Blaine?"

His boyfriend didn't answer for several minutes. Kurt expected him to be pouting, but he looked very thoughtful when Kurt finally glanced over. Clearly he was contemplating if he could sacrifice one for the other.

"Oh, you do. Alright, fine. I bet Easter was your favorite holiday when you were little, wasn't it?"

"Every holiday was my favorite holiday when it came around." Blaine grinned. "But I did get a whole lot of candy at Easter. I always got one of those huge Hershey Bars. The $40.00 ones? I was a very hyper child."

Kurt could picture a little curly headed Blaine running around on a sugar rush, hauling around a huge Hershey Bar everywhere he went. It was very cute. He hopped out of the car and grabbed Blaine's hand as they walked into the ice cream shop. "Can I have one scoop of mint chocolate chip? And he wants raspberry vanilla." He said to the bored looking teenage boy that was behind the counter.

"I haven't had ice cream in _months_!" The older boy said excitedly, taking a seat as they waited.

"Yes. That happens when it's winter." Kurt laughed.

"I can't help it that I'm slightly odd, alright?" Blaine ruffled his hair and grinned before going to get their ice creams.

"You did _not_ just mess up my hair in public, Blaine Anderson!" Kurt exclaimed when he got back. "We had an agreement!"

"Relax. It looks fine." Blaine held out his ice cream and, after he took it, straightened Kurt's hair. He let his hand linger there, eyes peering into Kurt's. He loved Kurt's eyes. He had never seen anything quite like them. They were gorgeous. He pulled the seat so it was next to Kurt's and not across from him, mostly so he could press closer to the boy, and gave his boyfriend another cute grin.

The younger boy just shook his head after rolling his eyes. "Okay, okay. I'd love to stare at that smirk all day but I think we need to have that serious discussion we're supposed to be having. What are we going to do after this summer, Blaine?"

Blaine tried to not pay attention to Kurt eating his ice cream—did Kurt know he was eating it that naughtily? No, he clearly didn't— and focus on college. "Well… where do you want to go?"

"I think… I think I want to go to the school in Columbus that I talked about… it's still close. A two hour drive from home… and if you still wanted to… you know… live together…" Kurt looked down, almost like he was embarrassed or afraid Blaine would say no.

"Of _course_ I do, silly. I've gotten way too used to living with you to just go back to Kentucky to an empty apartment." Blaine leaned against Kurt. He had been hoping, praying really, that Kurt would stay close by so they could do something like this. What would he have done if Kurt decided to go all the way to New York? Blaine was realizing that he liked quiet places as opposed to big and busy places like New York. He couldn't help but think that one day, when Kurt wanted to move to New York or California, that the two would run into some problems. Perhaps it was the fact that his entire life his parents and grandmother had carted him off to expensive towns and countries. Every moment was going, going, going. But in Ohio and Kentucky, you could just sit down outside and breathe. Blaine liked no-stress situations. Nonetheless, his heart seemed to swell three times it's size when he thought of living alone with Kurt. It was going to be absolutely perfect. They could worry about the possibility of moving away after college in four years when it happened. "We'll find a place in the middle. Cincinnati maybe? And I'll schedule my classes with gaps so I can work at the library between classes and try to work at the bookstore like two days a week or something… we'll find a nice apartment."

"You really want to move in with me?" Kurt sounded both shocked and thrilled. His blue eyes lit up happily as he stared at his boyfriend.

"I already live with you, Kurt." He laughed quietly. "I don't think it will be that much different living on our own. I mean we'll have bills and stuff but… but I've got some money saved up. And your dad gave me a little extra money for in case this happened… I don't know how I'd survive if I had to move back to Lexington and live without seeing you every day, Kurt."

Kurt gave him an adorable smile. "Okay. Good… because I don't think I can sleep without you… I'm so glad dad hasn't made you move into the guest room."

"Me too… I don't know how I'd get to sleep without you all snuggled up… although I think Kreacher would quite like if I was moved into the guest room. Then he'd have you all to himself." Blaine smiled back at him.

"Do you think we'll be okay? Do you think it will be different?" his boyfriend asked timidly.

"I think it will be better… this time we kind of had to live together under…" he paused, not quite sure how to say what he wanted to say. "Well, because of a bad situation… if we move in together, it will be because we're both sitting here, right now, and making the decision. We're planning for it and making the commitment to each other. Because we _want_ to."

Kurt leaned back against Blaine. "It's exciting, isn't it? My heart is pounding. Should my heart be pounding? Should I be nervous? Yeah, I should be nervous."

Blaine smiled and kissed his cheek. "I don't think you need to be nervous… we live together fine now. I think that we'll both have to have jobs to get by comfortably, but I think we can handle that. I think we'll be okay. Is that what you _want_ to do or is that what you feel _obligated_ to do?"

"I don't want you to give up UK and I really don't… _want_ to go to New York or California right now. Maybe later… CCAD looks like it will be good. I think I'd like to go there." Kurt finished off his ice cream and ruffled Blaine's hair. "I mean… if you want to live in Lexington again, you definitely can. I don't want to, like, tie you down or anything. But I'd really like to live with you… Alone with you. If we lived at home now you'd have to drive 4 hours to and from… that's out of the question. If we lived half way between UK and CCAD it'd be an hour and a half either way."

"I would definitely love to live with you, Kurt. You just have to live with my OCD cleaning and organizing habits." Blaine finished off his own ice cream and nuzzled his boyfriend. "I don't think I want hot chocolate anymore."

"I was kidding about you getting fat." Kurt nudged him. "You're tiny."

"I'm not tiny." The older boy muttered under his breath, scowling.

"That look isn't very dapper of you, either."

"I don't understand why everyone calls me dapper." He frowned.

"Have you ever burped at a table?" Kurt arched his eyebrow, smirking.

"Of course not, that's gross." Blaine's face screwed up in disgust.

"Have you ever walked around your house in your boxers?"

"No one wants to see all that."

"I could go on with examples of things that make you dapper, Blaine, but I won't. Suffice it to say you are a very dapper human being. It's just how you were raised. I think it's cute. You're so elegant."

"You've never seen me play soccer." Came the pouty response. "I'm a beast."

"I'm sure you are, dear." Kurt said in an off-hand voice, patting his head.

"No. It's not fair. You're trying to stereotype me into the perfect gay boy." Blaine sat up. "I am _so_ not the stereotypical gay boy."

"Your favorite words are _so_ and _totally_ , Blaine."

"The three best schools for soccer wanted _me_. Ooh, I know what's not dapper! Wes, David, and I snuck out of Dalton once and—." Blaine trailed off.

"You're lying." Kurt said instantly. "You only ever skipped class once, to come confront Karofsky with me."

"We did! We snuck out to see Muse! They were in Cincinnati and we totally drove down there. It was _amazing_. We only stayed for their show though. They were opening for My Chemical Romance. Although I swear Gerard Way winked at me as we were leaving because we passed their bus. _Swear it_. David says I was drunk though, so who knows." Blaine shrugged. "Yeah! Drinking is very un-dapper, Kurt!"

Kurt tilted his head. "How often do you drink?"

"I haven't gotten drunk since that whole Rachel fiasco… but I've never been shy about drinking. I don't drink around people I don't _know_ though. Well, I knew you at Rachel's party… Usually I just drink when Wes, David, and I go to parties. David never drinks and he keeps us in line. _Wes_ is the drinker. I don't know what it is. But he gets _wasted_. It's really funny, actually. Because once he met this girl and—yeah, you won't like this story." Blaine trailed off, but had a smirk on his face.

"Maybe you aren't as dapper as I thought." Kurt snorted. "Does this story end with 'and then he got laid'?"

"Possibly." Blaine said slyly.

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "So was Rachel's party the worst you've been?"

"Not by a long shot." Blaine shrugged. That had been a rather tame time for drunken Blaine if you took into account various stories Wes and David had told him in his past. "David'll tell you all about it. He loves a good laugh at 'un-dapper Blaine.'"

"Not by a long shot? That night was pretty bad. You kept sputtering nonsense out and vomiting all over the place. And you tried to kiss me."

Blaine's eyes widened and the color drained from his face. He didn't know _this_. What had he done? This was not good. Blaine tended to make a fool of himself under the influence of alcohol. "Oh god. What did I do?"

Kurt looked rather amused. "You were just drunk, Blaine."

"No. We were arguing after and you never told me what I did. You have to tell me."

"It was very entertaining. Well, parts of it. When you weren't throwing up or whining that you were dying."

"Oh god." Blaine covered his face.

"It was very cute when you tried to kiss me though."

"Why? What did I do?" he moaned, covering his face. _Not good, not good,_ he thought. _I am never drinking again. Never._

"You serenaded me with The Man I Love. Well, tried to. You didn't really know the words."

Blaine just let his head fall into the table. "I'm never, ever, ever drinking again."

"And then you tried to kiss me but really you just smacked your nose against my cheek and fell asleep." Kurt laughed and ruffled his hair. "And then the next Monday you were going out on a date with Rachel Berry."

Blaine looked up, cracking one eye open. "I love you?"

"I love you too, Blaine." Kurt reached down and kisses his forehead. "C'mon. Let's go home."

"You're not going to harass me about kissing Rachel are you?" the older boy whined, hesitantly standing.

He couldn't tell if Kurt was annoyed or not, but he generally did get annoyed when talking about his and Rachel's drunken kiss. Blaine really wanted to know what he had drank to get him tipsy enough to make out with her. She was nice as Kurt's friend and all, but Blaine really thought she was kind of obnoxious and rude. And not in the cute way that Kurt could occasionally be obnoxious and rude. Rachel Berry, in Blaine's opinion, was an insufferable human being and he didn't mind only seeing her once every few weeks. According to Kurt, she had to grow on you. Blaine, like most boys his age, didn't have that kind of patience. Unfortunately if she and Finn were dating, she'd be around a lot more. Blaine wasn't looking forward to it.

"I haven't decided."

" _Please_ don't tell Wes and David I did that either. The serenading you with Ira Gershwin. Oh my god, they won't let me live it down. If they find out about this, I may as well run off to England and change my name."

"I won't tell Wes and David. I did tell Mercedes though." Kurt went very quiet.

"What?" Blaine looked around. "What?"

"Is David dating anyone?" he asked, quite eagerly.

"Yeah." Blaine said, not putting two and two together. "I mean, it's not _serious_. He's still a little heartbroken after Sarah cheated on him with that guitarist. He's dating this new girl named Mary, whom Wes hates. I haven't gotten to meet her yet. She's apparently very… wait, why?" he looked at Kurt, eyebrow arched. He didn't like the eagerness in Kurt's voice. Usually that type of voice led to drama.

"Oh nothing." His boyfriend chirped, dragging him out to the car. "Nothing at all. So David doesn't really like her?"

"No. She just likes to have a lot of sex. She sounds like a bit of a slut, really. He was telling me—yeah, another story you probably don't want to hear."

Kurt nodded and opened the car door for Blaine, positively beaming.

"You know what? I don't even want to know. Don't even tell me what you're up to because I just don't want to know." The older boy said as he hopped into to car. "Not even a word."

* * *

"Blaine… Blaine, it's too hot to be this close." Kurt moaned, half asleep. But that statement didn't make sense. It was the beginning of February. But he definitely knew that Blaine was pressed close, face buried in his neck, and that he was burning up. He kicked the blankets off and his boyfriend shivered. "Blaine?"

Kurt forced his eyes open and looked around. He felt very cold everywhere but where Blaine's body was pressed close. The other boy was _burning up_. He sat up quickly and shook him.

"No." Blaine whimpered, voice raspy, as he tightened his arms around Kurt's waist.

"Sweetie, open your eyes. Come on." Kurt leaned over him, brushing his hair out of his face. He could easily tell that Blaine was sweating and his stomach twisted. "Blaine, come on. I just want to make sure you're okay. Blaine?"

Blaine just burrowed his face in Kurt's side. Kurt could even feel the heat radiating off of his boyfriend through his t-shirt. And the room was _freezing_. There was no question about it. Blaine had a fever.

Kurt slid out of Blaine's arms and padded to the bathroom, grabbing the thermometer out of it's usual space in the back of his drawer. He dipped it in alcohol to get any germs off of it and then went back into his bedroom.

"Hey, baby." Kurt whispered, kneeling down. Blaine was laying, eyes half open. "Blaine, come on. Wake up for me, baby." He touched his boyfriend's rosy cheeks. Blaine just opened his mouth, closing his eyes back. Kurt slid the thermometer in. "Close." Blaine obeyed, letting out a little whine. "It's 102.6. I'm getting my dad."

"No!" Blaine yelped.

"Yes. You're sick." Kurt spoke firmly, standing up. "Close your eyes. I'll be right back."

He looked like he wanted to argue, but his eyes slowly shut. Kurt quickly rushed to his dad and Carole's room. The door, as usual, was left slightly ajar in case Blaine needed to get them to help Kurt for anything. Funny how it was being the opposite way, Kurt thought to himself. He crossed to his father's side of the bed and shook his shoulder. "Dad… Dad, wake up."

"Kurt?" his dad asked gruffly, still half asleep.

"Dad, Blaine's really sick. He's got a bad fever." Kurt whispered, trying to not wake Carole.

It must not have worked, though. "Blaine's sick?" Carole asked, sitting up before Burt had even completely opened his eyes.

"He's burning up and his temperature is 102.6… he was fine earlier."

Burt sat up himself and then stood, grunting. "I'll go check on him. I think we're out of Tylenol so I'll probably have to go and get some."

Kurt nodded and followed his father anxiously back to his bedroom. Blaine was fast asleep again, sweating and every so often taking letting out a harsh cough.

"Well that doesn't sound good." Burt muttered, feeling his forehead. He shook Blaine very gently. "Hey, bud, wake up for a minute."

Blaine just kind of whimpered.

Kurt scooted Burt over and shook his boyfriend. "Wake up so Dad can figure out what's wrong, Blaine."

Carole made her way into the room with a bottle of water. "Blaine, sweetheart, I brought you some water. It'll help cool you off."

Blaine opened an eye, squinting as if a bright light was going to hurt him even though the room was almost completely dark.

"Here, sweetie." Carole sat next to him on the bed. "Sit up and you can have it."

Blaine heaved himself up and it seemed to be taking a great deal of effort. Carole opened the bottled water and handed it to him. "Drink that, okay? You'll feel better."

He drank, wincing, and eventually gave up after two sips.

"Does your throat hurt?" Carole asked.

"Yeah." He rasped, nodding. "And my head. And my side."

"Hold your head up." Burt said, leaning over. When Blaine did so he felt Blaine's neck. "His lymph nodes are swollen. I bet he's got strep. Kurt, you need to go take some Vitamin C, wash your hands, and stay in the living room."

"I'm not leav—."

"I don't want to get you sick." Blaine coughed. "Go. I'm fine."

"But I want to be—."

"Kurt, you can't get sick. You need to go sit in the living room." Burt said firmly.

Carole stood. "Come on, sweetie. Your father will take care of him. Let's go make you a bed on the couch."

Kurt leaned over towards Blaine.

"Kurt, I'm sorry, but you need to go. I don't know how strep throat will affect your lung if you catch it." Burt said, holding out his arm. "I'll come tell you how he is in a minute."

"Fine." Kurt stormed off, Carole following after.

"Alright kid." Burt sighed. "How bad do you feel on a scale of 1 to 10?"

"Twelve." Blaine coughed.

Burt stood. "Alright. Out of bed. We'll go to the emergency room and they'll be able to get you on antibiotics sooner. Let's get you up."

Blaine moaned a bit.

"Where are your shoes?" Burt asked, scanning the floor. "Ah, here they are. No way those are Kurt's. Good." He put them at Blaine's feet. "Just slip those on and—well, this jacket is Kurt's but that's okay. He won't mind. Good boy." He helped Blaine into Kurt's jacket and Blaine shivered. "Do you want some more water for the ride?"

Blaine shook his head and slowly made his way out of the room. He wouldn't have drunk it anyway. Swallowing hurt.

"It's got to be strep, but I'm going to take him down to the ER. They'll be able to give him some medicine now. Otherwise none of us will get any sleep." Burt told Carole. "Kurt, no. You're not going."

Kurt opened his mouth, but Carole interrupted."He probably should, Burt. So they can give him something to ward it off if he's come into contact with it. Which he probably has."

Burt sighed. "Fine. Go get another jacket."

Kurt ran up the stairs and back down in record time, sliding into his Sperry's. "Okay. I'm ready."

Burt helped Blaine out to the car, getting him settled into the passenger seat. "Doing okay there, kiddo?"

Blaine nodded and turned his head as he coughed, not wanting to cough on him.

Burt did his seat belt up and got into the car. Kurt got into the back seat, watching Blaine anxiously. Blaine's head lolled back against the seat, his mouth opened, and he fell asleep. The ride to the hospital was silent bar the occasional cough or two from Blaine, which always then prompted a moan or whimper. Kurt bit his lip, watching how much Blaine was shaking. He hated that he was in the back seat and couldn't stroke his hair or squeeze his hand. He hated that Blaine felt this bad. He'd been just fine when they'd gone to bed four hours before.

Burt pulled into a parking spot close to the front, as it was midnight and very few people were at the hospital, and went to help Blaine out of the car. Kurt closed the car door behind them and held the hospital door open.

"I'm going to sit you down over here and go talk to the lady, okay? Kurt will be here with you."

Blaine nodded, shuffling closer to Kurt. "You must feel bad if you aren't telling me to go away." Kurt whispered, stroking his hair.

"My everything hurts." He whispered hoarsely. He felt awful. Absolutely awful. He knew he should have told Kurt to not sit so close him, but it made him feel better to have Kurt there. His eyes closed and he took deep breaths.

"The doctor will give you some medicine soon, honey. You'll feel better soon."

Burt came over with a clipboard and papers.

"I'll do it." Kurt reached over and took the clipboard. Blaine had filled it out for him three months ago. Blaine had taken care of him for months and months. It was Kurt's turn to take care of Blaine now. He filled out everything he already knew and then softly asked Blaine the questions he didn't know. Blaine rasped out answers, voice quieter with each word.

"Do you want me to get you some water, Blaine?" Burt asked as he took the clipboard back from Kurt.

Blaine nodded, head falling onto Kurt's shoulder.

Burt stood and made his way to give the receptionist the paperwork and to get Blaine some water.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and rocked him slowly, kissing his curls. "It shouldn't be long. The waiting room is practically empty. We'll get you some medicine and you'll feel loads better."

"I'm sorry." Blaine rasped out into his shoulder.

"For what?" Kurt pulled back to look at him.

"I didn't mean to get sick." He whimpered.

"No one means to get sick, kid." Burt came up and extended a small paper cup to Blaine. "You have nothing to apologize for."

Blaine drank the contents of the up and, after setting the cup down, allowed Kurt to pull him close. He had half dozed off when someone finally called him back. Kurt helped him back into the bright room, ruffling his curls as they walked. Blaine just let out a yawn and cringed at the light. He wanted to be back in Kurt's room in total darkness. Yes, that's what he wanted. Not another hospital. Especially not when he was the one being looked over.

"Okay we're just going to do a strep test and see how that shows up, because it sounds like that's what you've got." The nurse said cheerfully. "Open up."

Blaine did as told after turning away to cough.

"Uh, you should probably test my son too." Burt said gruffly, sitting down. "There's about a 150% chance he's got it too."

"Of course." She smiled and swabbed Blaine's throat, making him cough even more. "I know, I know, honey. It's awful, isn't it?" she patted his knee and carefully put the swabs up in a small bag. "We'll get you feeling better in no time, sweetheart. You handled that test better than the last kid who was in here. He kicked me."

"How old was he?" Kurt asked curiously, hand going back to Blaine's hair.

"Twenty three." She rolled her eyes."Okay, your turn. Open up."

Kurt opened his mouth and let her swab the back of his throat, making a funny face when she pulled the swab out. A doctor walked in. "Blaine Anderson! Look at you, all grown up!"

Blaine stared at the person blankly, feeling too bad to even mutter a "hello."

"You look just like your dad. I remember when you'd come here after school and go around singing to all the patients. Word on the street is now you sing at school and King's Island."

Blaine just continued to stare at the person like he was insane. He certainly didn't feel good enough to carry on a conversation with someone he didn't know. Did he know this person? The last time he'd gone to work with his father was when he was, like, nine.

"Alright, those tests will be done in just a few minutes. I'll take a look and see what's going on, okay?" the doctor went over and washed his hands. "Are you still at Dalton?"

Blaine sent Kurt a rather pathetic look and then shook his head.

"Oh! UK, right? I remember your father saying something about it. He wasn't too pleased you turned down Duke, was he? I never really saw you going away for a sport though. Sports should be fun, not your life." He listened to Blaine's breathing. "Well we all told him to let you go where you wanted. What do you major in?"

"English." He rasped, too tired to launch into the fact that he was taking a break. He really just wanted the guy to shut up. He didn't feel good. He wanted medicine and to go home. With Kurt. And curl up with ice cream… and maybe die.

"Oh? Do you want to teach?"

Blaine looked pitifully at Kurt again, who was stroking his hair. It hadn't even dawned on him that this might get back to Blaine's father. Then again, the doctor didn't seem to find it strange at all or to care. "He wants to go to law school." Kurt said for him. "And he likes Frankenstein."

"Yes, he used to bring that book after school. We enjoyed having him around before his mother got a chance to pick him up. All the girls loved his massive head of curls." The doctor laughed. "Now open up, Blaine. I'm gonna take a look and see what we've got here."

Blaine did so, leaning against Kurt.

"Oh yes, that is most definitely strep. And you weren't feeling bad before today?"

"A little tired. I thought it was allergies or something." Blaine whimpered. "Am I going to die?"

The doctor laughed loudly. "You always were rather dramatic any time you came down with anything. Even a cold. No, you won't die. You'll get some medicine, some of that cough syrup you hate, and orders to stay in bed for at least 3 days." He looked to Burt. "I'd advise not giving him a bell in case he needs anything."

"Oh god." Blaine moaned, burrowing his face in Kurt's shoulder. "Don't. I can't handle it. No more embarrassing stories. I've met my quota for today."

The doctor laughed again. "You always did have a lot. But let's get you in a chair so I can see if Kurt's caught it yet. Although he looks completely fine."

Kurt took Blaine's place on the bed and Burt let him have the chair. His eyes kept slowly closing and then opening very quickly.

"He had surgery on his lung a few months ago. Will that cause any problems?" Burt asked as the doctor peered into Kurt's mouth.

"You've got the spots. We'll get you some medicine and hopefully head off the symptoms. And that shouldn't affect his lungs at all. He may cough a bit but he's got nothing to worry about. He may not even show symptoms with any luck. He appears perfectly fine now and has no fever at all. I'll still put him on some antibiotics and give him some cough medicine in case he needs it." He looked to Kurt. "Now if you start feeling very sore in your chest, though, it may not be a bad idea to go to the doctor just to make sure. But it sounded fine to me just now."

Kurt nodded and hopped down, just going over to Blaine and kissing the top of his head.

"I gave you strep." Blaine whimpered.

"I'll forgive you this once." Kurt smiled at him.

"I'm dying. I am. I can see the white light."

"That's because your eyes are closed and you're looking at the ceiling, baby."

Burt shook his head at the two, but was surprised at the role reversal. It was strange to see Kurt taking care of Blaine the way that Blaine had taken care of him since October. Then again, Kurt had always taken care of him when he was younger, so why would he not take care of Blaine too? It was just another thing to show how compassionate his son was. The doctor wrote them off prescriptions and handed them to Burt, breaking his thoughts. "The 24 hour pharmacy is on the third floor. It should only be about a ten minute wait, if that."

Burt nodded. "Thank you very much."

"Feel better, Blaine. And I hope you don't get to feeling too bad, Kurt." The doctor said as he left.

"Kurt, you get him out to the car and I'll go get these filled. Blaine, what's your birthday?"

"April 3rd." Kurt answered before Blaine got the chance. "Come on, let's get you to the car."

"'S cold outside." Blaine mumbled as Kurt got him up and led him out of the room. Kurt didn't have to help him way too much, but did have to help him into the car. "Ow, I hit my head."

"I told you to duck. Duck doesn't mean look up abruptly." Kurt responded, easing him into the seat.

"'m just gonna lay here." Blaine sprawled out across the back seat.

"I can't help but think this is an attempt to get sympathy so I won't make fun of you for serenading me that one night." the younger boy teased, climbing into the floor of the car.

"'S not. I don't… I don't feel good. And I'm dying."

Kurt smiled and ran his fingers through his boyfriend's curly hair. "Well we'll get you home and back to bed in no time at all." He whispered. "And I'll even get you some ice cream tomorrow morning. We can both watch Tangled and pretend to not cry. Well, I'll bawl. You'll pretend something is in your eye."

Blaine let out a soft snore, curling into himself. Kurt sighed a bit and stroked his hair. His hair was damp due to all of the sweating and he most definitely still had a fever. "Poor thing…" he whispered as Burt got into the car.

"Alright, I'll get you two home. Hopefully you won't and up needing this cough medicine. The mailman won't think it's so cute this time around." Burt joked.

Kurt didn't even dignify that with a response.

* * *

"I want your anti-strep super powers." Blaine moaned the next evening, sending a glare in his boyfriend's direction. His voice was still rather hoarse but he didn't feel as though he was dying anymore. He was very sure Burt's soup was helping with that. "Your dad could have gone to work. You're not even feeling sick."

"Ah, but dad is worried about you. I told you he adores you." Kurt said, squeezing his leg. "Throat feeling any better?"

Blaine took another sip of his vegetable soup and nodded. "Yeah. This is delicious."

"Thank you." Burt said happily, coming in. "Kurt's never liked it very much."

"Are you crazy?" Blaine dropped his spoon in the bowl and stared at the younger boy in shock.

Kurt simply shrugged. Vegetable soup had never been his favorite. He preferred bean and bacon soup much more.

"Alright, here's your medicine." Burt said, handing out a pink pill to both boys. "Remember what time it is because this is when you have to take them tomorrow."

Kurt checked his phone. "Seven. Got it. Thanks, dad."

Burt ruffled Blaine's hair. "You feeling okay, kid?"

Blaine, who wasn't used to being treated this way when he was sick, nodded almost bashfully. "T-thanks."

"Don't even try to thank me. Carole is bringing some ice cream home on her way in from work. And some more cough drops. You go through those like they're candy. You know you're only allowed so many per hour, right?"

Blaine waved his hand in a careless way, reaching for his bag of cough drops and rasping, "There's not enough medicine in these to do anything."

"Just let Kurt know if you need anything, alright? I can run down to the store and get anything you need too, or call and have Carole pick it up."

"He'd love some celery and peanut butter." Kurt chirped, squeezing his leg.

Blaine shot him a look and then quickly shook his head.

Burt laughed a bit and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

"Your family is so nice, Kurt…" Blaine whispered after several seconds of staring at the closed door, looking down at his hands. "I mean… my parents took care of me when I was… well, before I was twelve. After that it just… I don't know. _Here's a pill, go to bed, don't wake us up if you need us._ "

Kurt's stomach knotted in the way it always did when Blaine talked about his family and he squeezed Blaine's leg again. No one should have treated their sick child like that. Blaine had awful parents. Even if his father was a doctor and likely knew nothing serious was wrong, people needed comfort when they were sick. They needed hugs, kisses, and cuddles. They needed to be cared for and to know someone was there no matter what time it was.

"It's just so different from my family. I'm not used to it." He coughed a bit and leaned against his boyfriend. "I didn't think families like yours were… real. I don't know… I mean, even when you're perfectly healthy, your family is still really close. You all four have an amazing bond."

Kurt put his finger under Blaine's chin and tilted his head upward, meeting his eyes. He wished he knew what Blaine was thinking. He knew he was probably sad and that was the last thing he wanted. Blaine was sweet to be sad. "My family really cares about you too, Blaine. They _love_ you."

"No, they—." He tried to look down.

"Blaine, when are you going to get it through those curls and into that thick head of yours that you are part of this family now?" Kurt whispered, leaning over so they boys were still face to face. "What can I do to make you feel like you belong here, Blaine? I'll do it."

"It's just different." Blaine whispered. "I'm used to handling everything on my own… I don't think I know how to… do this."

Kurt's heart broke in two and he kissed him quickly. He didn't know how to be cared for? That was horrible. He really, really, _really_ hated Blaine's family. All of them. They really didn't know how good of a person they had in their lives. Countless times Kurt would sit and wish that he'd known Blaine all his life. He's spent seventeen years of his life without Blaine next to him. Entirely too long. But, he often thought, if they had known each other previously they may not have been as close now. He would trade _nothing_ for what the two had now. "Well you never have to handle anything on your own again. I'll teach you how to let people take care of you. We're here for you… I'm here for you."

Blaine looked at him, mouth open a bit, speechless.

"You don't have to say anything." Kurt kissed his forehead. "In fact, you shouldn't. It hurts your throat… but really, Blaine… you're part of this family now. For as long as you want to be… which hopefully will be forever." He added as an afterthought.

He felt Blaine throw his arms around him, pulling him close. Kurt returned the hug, kissing his cheek. "We're here for you, Blaine. Okay?" Blaine nodded into his shoulder, letting out a strange noise that Kurt hoped wasn't a sob. He stroked his boyfriend's hair and whispered soothingly to him.

Blaine eventually sat up and looked at Kurt. His face was pale, but he didn't look like he'd been crying. He just looked rather pitiful and his eyes kind of squinted against the light.

"Now I'm going to show you how to let someone take care of you." Kurt whispered, scooting over. "You're going to let me help you lay down, alright?" Blaine nodded and allowed Kurt to get him into a comfortable lying position in the middle of the bed. "Okay. I'm going to go and get you some orange juice. You're going to lie here," he reached for the remote control and placed it on his stomach. "and you're going to watch TV until I get back. Don't pick anything depressing though. You have to watch something that will make you laugh, okay? Otherwise it won't help you feel better." Another nod. Kurt felt himself smiling. "Are you comfy?" Another tiny nod as Blaine pulled the covers up to his chin. "I'll be right back with your juice."

"What are you going to do when you get back?" his voice came out raspy again.

"I'm going to let you lay your head on my chest and stroke your hair while you watch TV until you fall asleep. And when you fall asleep I'm gonna stay here until you wake up and then I'll repeat the process."

Kurt saw the corners of his mouth curve upward in a very small but noticeable smile . "Okay. What do I do?"

Kurt smiled, not able to even describe how happy that tiny smile made him. He must have been doing _something_ right to make Blaine smile. "That's the joy of being sick. You just do absolutely nothing while everyone caters to you and loves on you and let's you know how special and adorable you are. Well, I'll probably be the only one letting you know how adorable you are, because it'd be weird coming from anyone else." He bent down and kissed Blaine's forehead. "Do you want anything else while I'm down there? Celery perhaps?"

Blaine let out a tiny whine and shook his head. "Want the puppy."

"Okay. I'll bring the demon puppy up. Anything else? Anything at all?"

"No, but thanks." He gave Kurt another small smile. "I appreciate it."

"Well I appreciate _you_." Kurt kissed him quickly. "I'll be right back, babe."

Blaine nodded and turned on the television as his boyfriend left the room. Maybe being sick and letting someone take care of you wasn't as bad as he thought.


	13. Chapter 13

"Finn should be here soon and then we can all eat." Burt said as he sat the table for Friday Night Dinner. While Kurt had been sick the ritual had kind of disappeared, but as of the last few weeks they had began their family tradition again. Sometimes Finn, who was home a lot more because it wasn't football season, was able to make it and sometimes he was not. Either way, this one was apparently very important. There was a _big announcement_.

Well, Kurt didn't really like surprises very much. He had been begging his dad for nearly two hours to tell him what the secret was to no avail. If there was one thing you learned how to do when you lived in a house with Kurt Hummel, it was to ignore fits. If Kurt was the queen of throwing fits, then Burt was the king of ignoring them. Which is probably why Kurt's fits could end up so monumental.

But Burt was speaking to Blaine, not Kurt. Blaine had just walked in from his history class looking a little pale but considerably better than he had a week ago when he had been taken to the emergency room. Kurt sat at the table, chin in the palm of his hand and scowling at his father. Burt was completely unaffected by this, though, and set out five glasses next to the already set plates.

"It never takes Finn too long to get here." Carole said from over the stove. "He drives like a maniac. Both of our boys do. Do you drive like a crazy person, Blaine?"

Blaine gave a small cough and then cleared his throat. "No, I'm a very good driver."

"He's never even gone through a _yellow_ light." Kurt muttered.

"Good!" Carole beamed, looking very happy. "At least one of my boys knows how to drive!"

"Don't mind Kurt." Burt said. "He's in the middle of throwing a fit. Well, more like getting over it."

"Why?" Blaine asked quietly.

"Because _I want to know what the surprise is_! I hate surprises!" Kurt whined, sitting up straight and poised to begin his argument again.

"Carole, are you sure we can't tell him?" Burt finally sighed. "It would make life easier on all of us."

"Yes, I'm sure. Everyone in this family is going to find out at the same time. So don't you ask if we'll tell you now either, Blaine." She pointed a spoon at him. "Go put your books up, take the last day of your medicine, and sit by Kurt."

"No one may want to sit by Kurt until he finds out this surprise." Burt muttered, but he said this as he took one of the empty seats by Kurt. "He's never had much patience for anything, Carole."

"He gets it from you. Blaine, go take your bag up." Carole waved him on, as if she were his mother. "No special treatment, no matter how adorable you look when you don't fix your hair. Go on."

Blaine hauled himself up the stairs, glad he only had one class and his bag was light. He set it down just inside Kurt's room—were they at the point where he could say _their_ room, yet?— next to the door. The room was of course perfectly spotless. Between both Kurt and Blaine, there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity for the room to get messy. Both boys liked things neat and tidy.

When he was coming back out Finn came up and grinned. "'Lo, Blaine."

"Hey, Finn." Blaine smiled back. "How's school?"

"Ready for finals. As usual." The taller boy moaned, tossing his bag into his room. He shrugged when it knocked something over and just shut the door. "Mom said you got strep. Feeling better?"

"Yeah. I'm a little tired though." Blaine shrugged.

"I hope this dinner goes fast. I kind of promised Rachel she could come over tonight and watch a movie."

_Oh god, Kurt and I have got to make plans. I cannot spend the night with Rachel Berry. My head will explode._

"I'm sure it will go fast. Any idea what the annouc—."

"WILL YOU TWO HURRY UP IN THERE?" Kurt called loudly. "IT'S RUDE TO KEEP PEOPLE WAITING!"

"It's also rude to yell at people, dude!" Finn called back as he rolled his eyes.

The two boys made their way downstairs. Blaine took the free seat next to Kurt and Finn sat down between Burt and Carole. Kurt was staring fixedly on his father, practically glaring holes into his skull.

"Kid, you have _got_ to learn patience. It is a virtue." Burt said gruffly, grabbing the bowl of mashed potatoes and spooning some onto his plate.

Kurt heaved a huge sigh. "It's a dumb virtue. What good does waiting do for anyone?"

"Alright, alright." Carole said. "Burt and I have some very… shocking news. Shocking in a good way, I hope."

Burt nodded. "Carole's pregnant."

Finn dropped the spoon he was holding and Kurt's mouth fell open in shock.

"Congratulations!" Blaine said happily.

"Thank you, Blaine!" Carole smiled at him.

"Wait, you two have _sex_?" Finn asked slowly.

"I hope everybody knows this changes nothing." Kurt said in a very serious voice after rolling his eyes at Finn. "I am still the baby in this family and this, in no way, shape, or form will change that fact. I will always be spoiled."

Burt rolled his eyes this time. "You're eighteen, Kurt. You're not a baby."

"I'm not _a_ baby. But I'm _the_ baby. I have always been the youngest in the Hummel family, the Hudson-Hummel family, _and_ of all of my friends. I have always been the baby."

Carole laughed and patted his hand. "Sweetheart, you will still be the baby. The baby boy, at least. We're having a girl."

Kurt's mood seemed to brighten immediately. "A little girl? How far along are you?"

"I'm four months. We found out shortly after Thanksgiving but we thought it would be a good idea to… to let things settle down a bit before we told. There was enough stress going on." Carole smiled. "I hope you boys aren't mad. If you are, though, it's a little too late for objections now."

Both Carole and Burt laughed.

"No, wait. Really? You two have _sex_? Dude, that is so gross." Finn repeated.

"Finn, could you use the word sex at the dinner table any more tonight?" Kurt looked at his older brother impatiently.

"Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex."

"I guess they aren't going to be as adult about it as I thought." Burt snorted. "At least Blaine is mature."

"You have no sense of manners whatsoever, Finn." Kurt just sighed and then, sitting up straight, turned to face Carole again. "This only gives me five months to design an entire nursery. I saw the cutest paintings when Mercedes and I were at Bed, Bath, and Beyond the other day and I just _have_ to get them. How do you feel about a light green nursery? Or would you rather light blue and light pink? No, that leaves me _four_ months. Blaine and I are moving to Cincinnati in the middle of June so he can take summer classes. At least I have more week's notice this time, I guess."

"I'm sure whatever color you choose will be wonderful, sweetie. Since you and Blaine basically share your room, I figured we'd just use the guest room. We're of course going to leave your boys' rooms like they are for when you come home. Because you all _three_ have to come home. A lot."

"Dad's going to go crazy without me around. Aren't you?" Kurt grinned.

Burt grunted. "I sure won't miss you hounding me about the food I eat."

"Yes you will. You'll call me at dinner time just to give me the opportunity."

"I wouldn't take it _that_ far, kid."

"Burt, you'll probably call him every twenty minutes." Carole stated. "For at least a month."

"Well with Blaine gone at classes all day, the kid will need someone to talk to."

Finn's phone began to ring just as he cleared his plate. "Hey, Rach… yeah, we're eating dinner now. An hour will be good, yeah. We'll watch whatever you want to watch."

Blaine stood with his plate and nudged Kurt. Kurt stuffed the last bit of his roll into his mouth and stood. "I'm being summoned away."

"Go on." Burt waved them off. "Carole and I will get the dishes in the dishwasher. But you two have to empty it when it's done."

Kurt gave a thumbs up and followed Blaine to the sink.

"Want to go get ice cream?" Blaine whispered.

"You just don't want to see Rachel." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I've told you, Blaine. She's a good friend. You're going to have to spend time around her."

"Why can't we spend more time around Mercedes? I actually like spending time with her. She's nice."

"Rachel's nice." Kurt rinsed off his plate and rolled his eyes at Blaine's facial expression. "Don't give me that look. You've only seen her under high stress situations and she's always unbearable in those." Blaine's look did not leave. "Oh, Blaine, she's not that bad."

"She kissed the boy you liked. What kind of good friend does that?" Blaine questioned.

"Do we really want to go there, sweetie? Because you _knew_ I liked you, you _didn't want to screw this up_ , and yet you were perfectly happy to make out with her. Not just once, Blaine, but like four times. Finn had to drag you away when it was time to leave."

"I was drunk." Blaine muttered, looking down.

"Blaine, I'm not like you. Everyone loves you. I only have a few close friends and I don't want to lose them."

"Kurt, she doesn't treat you very well. She visited you in the hospital and asked about set lists and costumes for regionals. She—"

"Is my friend." Kurt said firmly. "I appreciate this whole protective thing you're trying to do or whatever, but it's really not necessary. You can stay upstairs and work on homework if you really don't want to see her. But it wouldn't kill you to get to know her. I mean, know her without sucking her face."

The older boy rolled his eyes. "I think it will. I don't like her very much."

"Well I didn't like Thad very much either but I didn't go around telling you that." The younger boy sighed softly. " _I think Blaine's version of the song is better than the original_. Puh."

"Hey, I sang that song very well!" Blaine frowned.

"Of course you did, you always do. And Thad always hanged onto your every word. He was in love with you, I'm pretty sure."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "No. I'm sure you're wrong, honey… he had a girlfriend. Are you sure we can't go and get ice cream? It'll be nice. And we can stop at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and look at stuff for our new apartment again… maybe I'll even buy you those plates you wanted." He pushed back some of Kurt's hair and met his eyes. _Please, just say yes. I don't like Rachel, I don't want to see Rachel. I'll buy you a_ house _if you give me an excuse to leave without being rude. I don't handle being rude well and it will be totally obvious why I'm doing homework on a Friday night._

"You are a terrible person, Blaine." Kurt sighed. "Fine. Just let me change pants. These are way too tight on me right now."

"Do you have to?" Blaine said without even thinking.

"Have to what?" Burt asked coming over with his plate.

"I just have to see those plates again. I can't get them out of my mind." Kurt said quickly as Blaine turned a light shade of pink. Kurt was getting good at this, because Blaine tended to say stuff like that all the time now. It was all of the sexual frustration getting to him. Kurt knew that much because the frustration was getting to him as well. It was awful. They lived together, they _slept_ together, yet they rarely had sex. It was kind of awkward having sex though. Not the sex itself. That was clearly amazing, considering how much the boys thought about it. It was awkward to have sex or to think about it, though, when Kurt's parents slept two rooms down from their bedroom.

"Fine, it's Friday. But you two be careful and don't stay out all night. We're getting up _early_ to go look at those apartments. With any luck, we'll have you two a place set up by the end of this weekend. Only then we'll have to worry about furniture and god knows what else. You're such an expensive child, Kurt. I don't know what Blaine's going to do if he doesn't go to law school. You'll break the poor kid."

Blaine laughed because he had thought the same thing many times himself. He had been thinking about their future a lot, actually. He guessed it was normal. They were taking the next step, moving in together, in four months. _Four months_. He would be living, alone, in an apartment with Kurt Hummel. They would go to school in the morning, Blaine was going to work around his classes at Kennedy's Book Store and the William T. Young library like last year, Kurt was going to work part time somewhere, and they would come home to each other at night. They would have sex if they wanted without feeling awkward or rushed. They would stay up in the living room and sing loudly with musicals or dance during _Dancing with the Stars_ if they wanted. They would go for walks at two in the morning, make coffee runs in the middle of the night. Then again, they didn't have to do that. They could just cuddle. They could do _anything_. Because they would be living on _their own_.

God.

That was really scary, but really exciting. It was definitely more exciting than scary.

Kurt kissed Blaine's cheek. "I'll be right back. I'm going to change."

Blaine kissed his cheek back and nodded. "I'll go heat up the car."

Kurt headed upstairs, humming cheerfully.

"Don't let the kid talk you into buying a lot of stuff. He'll try."

"Oh I know he will." Blaine laughed. "But I'll do anything to not see Rachel Berry."

Burt snorted, patted his shoulder, and went back to clear the rest of the table. Blaine tugged on his jacket and went out to his car, turning the heat on. By the time Kurt finally emerged the car was very toasty and Blaine was singing and dancing along with a Katy Perry song.

"You're never going to grow out of her, are you?" Kurt asked hopping into the passenger seat.

"Of course not. If she asked me to marry her, I'd probably say yes."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well if that's the case, should I risk losing you and still take you to that Katy Perry concert?"

Blaine, who was about to put the car in drive, turned and stared at his boyfriend. "You're totally joking, right? Right?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm joking, Blaine." Kurt grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "I do wish you'd try to get to know Rachel though… she really likes _you_."

"I'm sorry that I don't want to be best friends with an arrogant girl who won't even learn my last name. Can we not talk about her? The whole point of leaving was to avoid her."

"Fine, fine." Kurt leaned back against the seat and only let go of Blaine's hand long enough for him to back out of the driveway. Once they had backed out, Blaine held his hand out for Kurt to take and the younger boy, of course, did. "So what classes are you taking this summer?"

"Two English classes." He answered. "They're long classes… but I don't know. I'll feel more caught up if I do that. I'm taking the four online and night classes now, two this summer… so I'll really only be two or three classes behind. I may be able to get caught up that way I can give your dad some of that money back."

Kurt played with his fingers, smiling a bit. "Okay."

"Are you excited about CCAD? You _know_ you'll get in. And with that portfolio you've been working on, you'll probably get at least a partial scholarship. It's really amazing, Kurt. You're going to do great."

Kurt's smile grew and he sat up a little straighter. "Thanks… I still can't believe Carole is pregnant! I mean, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised. They're married and all… but a baby… wow. It's going to be so weird, isn't it?"

"You've adjusted well enough to Finn, haven't you? You two sure act like regular siblings. I think it'll be a bit strange at first. And you'll probably get jealous all the attention is somewhere else." Blaine turned and flashed him a charming grin.

"I really am the baby, you know?"

"Believe me, I know. Burt has spoiled you rotten. All of those clothes in your closet? A Lincoln Navigator for your sixteenth birthday? My first car was an old Camry."

"Toyota's are awful." Kurt cringed.

"I actually loved it. Her name was Katy."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Really?"

"Duh." Blaine gave him another grin as he pulled into a parking spot. "But Katy met her demise one day when a deer hit me."

" _You hit a deer_?"

"No. _A deer hit me_. I was stopped at a red light and it hit me."

"Was it okay?"

"I guess. It just pranced on. I still don't think mom and dad believe me." He snorted a bit and turned the car off, not moving to get out. He felt Kurt's hand squeeze his own. "I'm fine, Kurt. Really."

"Are you sure? I know you don't like thinking about them."

"I'm sure… I'm not changing myself for them. If they can't accept who I am, I don't want to be around them. Besides, I'm very happy right where I'm at. I can't believe we're going to go and look at stuff for an apartment, Kurt. Isn't this insane?"

"It is." Kurt whispered. "What's it like? Living on your own?"

"It's very quiet… and strange. A bit scary at first, too. But it's nice to have that freedom. You can do whatever you want. That's what's nice about it."

"What'd you do? When you were home alone? When you weren't reading or doing homework, I mean."

"I laid in bed and read Vogue a lot." He laughed. "And watched ESPN. Sometimes both at the same time."

Kurt gave him a blank look and then shook his head, smiling. "You're so… you."

"Well I'd hope so." Blaine laughed louder this time and opened the car door. "Let's go look around. You can show me that cute baby stuff you were telling Carole about too."

Kurt got out of the car, locked his door, and linked hands with his boyfriend. The two spent three hours looking at the living room section before they finally made it to the baby section. Blaine watched as Kurt got very excited, touching random things and making noises. It was very cute how excited he was to be looking at baby stuff, and it reminded him of that dream he had had. It seemed like that dream was ages ago.

"Think we'll ever have kids?" Kurt suddenly asked, looking up from the stuffed animal he was holding.

"Yes." Blaine's answer was instant. "Yes, Kurt. We will."

Kurt positively beamed. "Great. Because I want a little girl to spoil. I mean, I'm sure I'll spoil this baby. But it's different when it's your own kid, I'm assuming. I really want a little girl."

The older boy leaned over and kissed his boyfriend gently. "You will have your little girl one day. I promise. I'm going to go to UK and you'll go to CCAD. After you graduate, I will buy you a second puppy to keep Kreacher company while we immerse ourselves even further into the land of learning. Then I'm going to law school and you'll get your Masters in design somewhere. While in grad school someone totally awesome will discover you. And you'll make it big. I'll finish law school and get an excellent job in a huge law firm. We will buy—no, we will _build_ — the absolutely perfect house for us. And it will have a swing on the porch, just like you asked."

"You remember me asking for a porch swing?" Kurt whispered, looking into his eyes.

"I remember everything." Blaine tapped his own head. "It's all the gel. It's got super powers."

"Continue with our life story." Kurt put the stuffed animal down, looped his arm through Blaine's, and began walking.

"Hmm… The house will have a porch swing. The door will be red." Blaine said thoughtfully.

"Hmm. Red." Kurt nodded. "I could live with that. But it has to be the right shade of red. If it's too bright it will be too tacky and if it's too dark it will just look ugly."

"Of course." Blaine nodded in agreement. The more he talked, the more excited he got about his future with Kurt. It was giving his stomach butterflies, but in the best way imaginable. "The house will have three bedrooms. One for us, of course. One for our daughter, and the third will be a guest room that will eventually become the bedroom of one of our children."

"One of? How many are we having?" the smaller boy questioned, leaning against him.

"Two. At least. But with you being an amazing designer and me being an awesome lawyer, we'll have plenty of money to go around." Blaine ruffled his hair ("You did _not_ just mess up my hair in public!") and pulled him close. "See? This is a much better way to spend our night than with Rachel Berry."

"Way to ruin that moment." Kurt elbowed him lightly.

"Every moment is perfect when I'm with you." Blaine grinned, watching Kurt's face. He loved how when he said stuff like that Kurt's breath would stop and how his eyes would widen, as if he wasn't even sure Blaine was talking about him. It was weird for Kurt because he'd spent most of his life wanting someone just like Blaine, someone who could say breathtaking things like this, someone who actually wanted to _be_ with him. It was hard to believe he had finally found him.

"You're too good for me, you know?" Kurt said finally, resuming their walk. As they walked down the aisles though they weren't really looking at the shelves. Soon it would be closing time and they would have to leave, but that was okay. They would still be going home _with each other_.

"You deserve much better than me, Kurt. No one that dated you would ever let you go. Luckily I'm the first gay guy you ever fell in love with or else I'd probably be very lonely right now."

"No." Kurt whispered. "You'd be at Duke playing soccer."

"And having sex with every gay member of the team." He laughed. It was funny, really. And who knows? Maybe he _would_ have. If he was that lonely, that is.

"Don't joke about serious stuff like that. What you went through when you were fifteen and sixteen isn't funny, Blaine."

"I didn't _go through_ anything. I subjected myself to it." Blaine stated, squeezing his hand. "The sex at least."

"It's still not funny. You were very unhappy…" Kurt looked down.

"Maybe you saved me?"

Kurt looked back up at him with bright blue eyes. Blaine loved those eyes. "You were fine before I came. Wes and David were taking good care of you. You were just fine."

"In a sense, I guess… I didn't know how unhappy I really was until you came. I mean, I know there are other gay people at Dalton but I spent most of my time with the Warblers and the soccer team. All of those guys were straight. So it was… I mean, it wasn't _bad_ or anything. And then I met you. And you were so adorable. After you left that first day, Wes about killed me."

"Why?"

"For leading the spy right to our 'impromptu' performance. And then not getting your number."

Kurt laughed loudly at that.

"He was all 'A gay kid walks right up to you, you basically impregnate everyone in the room with your eye sex, and then you don't even get his _phone number_?' He called me a slut for two weeks." Blaine laughed too. "And then he and David argued over who would be the girl, which one of us was taller, and how long we'd know each other before one of us proposed. Wes guessed a week. This all happened in that first night."

"How long did David guess?" the younger boy laughed. He hadn't known his visit would have led to such interesting discussion between the Warblers. In fact, he'd been sure all of them, especially the gorgeous and elegant Blaine, would have forgotten about him by dinner time.

"David is convinced that we're going to get engaged within a week of graduating college. He maintains that to this day."

"That's very specific." Kurt stated, leaning against Blaine more as they finally left the store. He snuggled close when Blaine's arm tightened around him, keeping him warm.

"David's like that. He's got his entire life planned out. He's even planned out what classes he's going to take at what semester for his entire college career. Not _just_ undergrad, but graduate too."

"That boy has entirely too much time on his hands. I feel like I can barely plan an entire week."

They reached the car and Kurt stepped out of Blaine's arms and looked at him. Blaine's hazel eyes met his and the older boy smiled. "That's okay. I've already got our lives planned. Through our first two children's births, at least. That ought to keep us covered for a while."

Kurt leaned over and kissed him softly, bringing his hand to the boy's cheek. Blaine's arms went around his waist and pulled him closer so that their chests were pushed together. Blaine kissed back eagerly, leaning back against his car. Their feverish kiss continued until some boy walking by whistled.

Kurt pulled away sheepishly and bit his lip, blinking down at Blaine. "Whoops?"

Blaine just grinned and kissed his cheek. "It's only ten, so we need something else to do. I vote for going to Walmart and playing with all of the kid toys."

"Only – _Only—_ if you promise— _promise—_ not to fill up a water gun and spray me again like last time."

"That was Finn's idea, not mine! I thought you were going to _kill_ me right then and there. I've never seen you look so mad." Blaine giggled. "Y-you looked like how your dad looks when you t-tell him he's old."

"Get in the car, you." Kurt gently pushed him away. "I'm done with you for right now."

"You _love_ me, Kurt. You're stuck with me forever so you better get used to it." Blaine said cheerfully as he made his way to the driver side of the car. "I really wish I'd bought that water gun when I had the chance last summer."

* * *

"I can't believe we picked out an apartment. We picked out an apartment."

Burt had gotten out of the car and gone inside, but Blaine and Kurt still remained buckled up in their seats. Kurt's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly and he stared ahead, eyes wide. "Blaine, we _picked out an apartment_! We. You and I. Picked out."

"An apartment. I know!" Blaine interrupted him, laughing. "Your excitement is very cute."

Kurt unbuckled his seat belt and pulled his legs under him, facing Blaine. "This is big, Blaine. This is huge. It's like… a big step up. We're like adults now. We're going to be living together in… in four months. Wow." His blue eyes were still wide and he looked at Blaine, barely blinking.

The older boy smiled at him, making Kurt's stomach do a little flip. Well, he said a little one but it was more like one hundred little ones.

"No. It really puts stuff into perspective, you know?" Kurt sat up a little straighter. "Living on our own is going to be kind of scary, don't you think?"

"It's okay. We'll get a nightlight." Blaine laughed.

"Hey, I'm being serious. You've lived on your own. You boarded at Dalton and had an apartment in the fall. But the longest I've ever been away from home is two weeks. And that didn't go very well. I went with Taylor to this convention when I was eleven. I was crying to come home after the fourth day." Kurt said very seriously. "It's not a very big deal for you to live on your own, but it is for me."

"It's not a big deal for me to move out… but it's a very big deal for me to move out with _you_." His boyfriend looked him in the eyes. "It's not only a big step in growing up, Kurt. It's a big deal for _us_."

And so it was.

Kurt hadn't been thinking about that, though. He had gotten so used to Blaine living with him that he… well, it was second nature to him. It was completely normal and natural for the two to be moving in together. Now that he did think about it, though, he realized the importance of what they were doing.

"It's going to really change things, isn't it?" he asked softly.

"It'll make us closer… but I'm sure there will be more arguments too… like over all the junk food I bring home from the store when you send me out to get tea—which I will have forgotten to pick up in my excitement over pizza rolls. Or whose day it is to do the dishes and cook. Whose turn it is to clean the bathroom." Blaine whispered, reaching over and putting his hand over Kurt's. "And there will probably be more stress. Working and school, you know. I'm going to try to work it so that I can mainly work around my classes, but that might not always happen… and you'll have to work too and I'm sure you'll spend a lot of Saturdays and Sundays at school finishing projects. Or I'll be up until three in the morning working on a big paper or finishing a huge book. Being tired and stressed out will make things a little tough."

Kurt swallowed and looked out the window. The way Blaine was talking was making him very nervous. He knew Blaine was being realistic, but he'd kind of built it up in his head that outside of school they would just lounge around, kiss, cuddle, and cook. And obviously have as much sex as possible, considering that there was a serious lack of that in their current lives. He knew he'd have to find a job but he didn't think about doing school, work, and doing work _for_ school. Stressing out about making rent payments. And how in the hell did you actually pay bills?

"What?" Blaine whispered. "What's wrong?"

"I guess I hadn't thought it through as well as I thought." Kurt admitted. "I don't even know how to do bills. What if I can't find a job?"

"You'll find a job, babe. Why wouldn't you?" the older boy laughed a bit. "You may not find the most enjoyable job ever, but you'll find one."

"Everything is just so different. I mean… in August I was all excited for my senior year and keeping my GPA up and taking AP French 2 and helping to get New Directions to nationals… but then I was in the hospital for forever and all of this stuff with your parents and applying to schools and my grades aren't as high as I want them… what if I don't even get into CCAD? Mercedes is going to New York near Quinn and Tina and Mike are getting married and everything is just…" he trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Everything was different, everything was changing. He felt like he was thirteen but at the same time felt thirty. Part of him still wanted to go to New York or LA. A very small part, but it was there. He hated the fact that he kept wondering if he'd made the wrong decision.

"Tina and Mike are getting married?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah. And I feel like we won't ever get that." Kurt wouldn't meet his eyes. "My aunts have been together for fifteen years and they're not married. And it's not fair, Blaine. They should be happy."

"This isn't just about Tina and Mike getting married, Kurt."

"No, but it's been bothering me. I'm happy for them and all. But they're my age. Why am I not getting married? Why them? Why not Paige and Taylor?"

Blaine scratched his head and looked out the window, sighing. "I really and truly believe we _will_ get married one day. I know they keep turning it over in states but… but I don't need a signed paper saying we're married, okay? And if we want one, we'll go to Canada and get it."

"We shouldn't _have_ to."

"Well as of now that's just how it is. I'm not any happier about it than you are, Kurt… and… can I be honest with you?"

Kurt met his eyes and nodded.

"I wouldn't propose to you."

Kurt took a sharp intake of breath, eyes widening.

"Not at eighteen. Not right now." He grabbed Kurt's hand. "I think that marriage is… is special."

"What, am I no—"

"Let me finish." Blaine said firmly. "It's special. And so many people are just going around and getting married for whatever reason. Not because they're in love. I think two people should be together for a while before they get married. People should have to work for that, because otherwise it isn't as special anymore. I'm not saying Mike and Tina won't last… but I'm saying that when I propose to you, I want to _know_ we'll last. I want to know that there is nothing else in the world that will make us happier. I know I want to be with you forever, Kurt. And I _know_ that one day, when you least expect it, I'm going to propose to you. And it's going to be just as special, if not more special, than it would be if I did it right now. I want our marriage to be as special as _you_ are."

Kurt nodded, but he still felt irrationally jealous of his friends. "Blaine, I couldn't be with anyone else. You're perfect for me."

"You'll never be with anyone else. I promise." Blaine reached over and hugged him, stroking his hair. "I promise. In a few years I'm going to propose to you. It's going to take your breath away, Kurt. And we'll get married and we'll have babies and puppies and kittens and a porch swing."

Kurt gave a quiet laugh. "You 're really set on that porch swing, aren't you?"

"I want you to have everything you want, Kurt. You deserve everything that you want. You—." Blaine trailed off and let go of Kurt as a police car pulled up into the driveway next to them.

"What?" Kurt turned around and his eyebrow arched.

"Come on, let's get out." Blaine opened the door as Kurt turned the car off. "Hello."

Kurt got out of the car also, feeling his stomach knot up. He recognized the two officers. He had given them his statement back in October.

"Hi, Kurt. We wondered if we could talk to you inside? This won't take very long."

Kurt felt Blaine move next to him, grabbing his hand. His hand squeezed Blaine's nervously. "F-Fine, yeah."

He lead them into the house. "Dad!"

Carole, who was on the couch reading, looked up and her eyes widened. "Burt, come in here!"

"Can't I even use the bathroom without someone needing so— oh. What's going on?"

The tallest officer, a young man, shook Burt's hand. "How are you, Burt?"

"I'm fine. What's going on?" Burt moved to stand by Kurt, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"There was another attack last night. In the same place as your son's." he turned his attention to Kurt. "It was three middle aged men. They were caught in the act. They've been arrested."

Kurt's eyes widened in shock.

"Excellent. So they're locked up?" Burt asked.

"It's… it's not that easy. When they were pursued, the attack had just started. There's no doubt that these aren't the men that did this to your son and those other kids, but… as of now, we can only get them on assaulting a minor… Kurt, would you be able to recognize them?"

Kurt had let go of Blaine's hand and was hugging himself, feeling sick to his stomach. "N-no. I didn't really see their faces. It was really dark."

"Could you recognize their voices? This is very important. Unfortunately, it could be very easy for these men to get out on this lesser charge. Two of the other victims will not testify. The other one is… well, physically unable to. If we have your case, Kurt… the men who physically harmed you would be charged with Menacing in the Second Degree. That's a Class E Felony." The man spoke very softly. "There's a big chance that, just with you confirming it's their voices, you won't even have to be at the trial."

"What's a Class E Felony?" Burt questioned, hand squeezing Kurt's shoulder so hard that it was almost painful. "What does this mean for Kurt?"

"These men attacked 5 teens. A Class E Felony means imprisonment for up to 15 years and for each attack they made there will be an additional 2 years added on. These men could be put away for 25 years." The other police officer explained. "And they need to be put away. The kid who was attacked right after your son is still in a coma."

Kurt's chest was very tight and he continued to hug himself. "I gave a statement though. Isn't that enough?"

"Your statement doesn't link those men to your attack."

"I don't want to see them." Kurt's voice came out sounding very high. "I don't want to see them."

"Kurt…" Carole said softly.

"No. This is my choice. I'm 18, and I don't want to see them again."

"You can put these men away, Kurt." Burt said gently. "For 25 years. That's not enough for what they did to you, but…"

"I don't want to see them. I don't want to see them. I don't want to see them."

Burt steered Kurt into the kitchen.

"No, dad. No." Kurt whispered, voice shaking.

"Kurt, stop." Burt said gruffly, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders and looking at him. "Kurt, you're an adult now and I'm going to be very honest with you. Your medical bills… they're high, son, and I don't know how we're going to be able to pay them off."

Kurt's lip began to tremble and he stared out the window.

"These people almost killed you, Kurt. They destroyed your computer, your phone. But most importantly, they destroyed you. And I know that things are just starting to get back to normal but… but you've got to stand up against this. I told you that these men were going to pay for what they did, kid, and they are. They're going to pay for your bills, for your suffering, and they are going to rot in jail. But you are the only one who can do it to them."

"Please, no." he shook his head and gasped for breath, feeling his entire body begin to shake. "No, daddy. I can't."

"Yes. You can. The man said you probably wouldn't even have to testify, Kurt."

"I don't want to see them. I don't want to know when they look like. I don't want to have faces in my nightmares, dad." Kurt began to cry. "I don't want to do it."

"You are a very strong person and you know that sometimes we _have_ to do stuff that we don't _want_ to do." Burt pulled him into a hug. "These men need to be in jail, Kurt. For a very long time. Don't you want to put them there?"

"No. No, I don't." his cries turned into sobs. "I can't do it. I can't. I won't. No. I-I'll pay for the bills. I can't. "

Burt moved and he felt different arms wrapping around him. He buried his face in Blaine's chest and sobbed helplessly, fingers wrapping around his shirt in the same way they had when he'd cried after Blaine had told him he would stay in Kentucky. Blaine whispered soothing noises in his ear, kissed the side of his face, and rocked him gently. "It's okay, my love… it's okay. Shh. Calm down, babe."

"I can't." he sobbed.

"You can so calm down." He whispered, rocking him back and forth. "If you only heard their voices you wouldn't even have to see them, per se. They would take you in a room with one of those mirrors. The lights on the other side would be turned off, but you'd still be able to hear them. You wouldn't have to see them, honey. You would just have to tell the officer whose voice you recognized."

Kurt gasped for breath, trying to calm himself.

"They wouldn't see you. They don't even know your name, so you don't need to be scared. They'll never see you again; they'll never know your name." Blaine continued, hugging him close. "Your dad and I will be right in there with you."

"What i-i-if I have to testify?"

"Honey, they'll probably plea out for some kind of deal. They won't want a trial slandering their name. They'll probably just go before a judge and be sentenced."

Kurt's hand did not let go of Blaine's shirt. He cried for several more minutes into his boyfriend's shoulder. He had hoped this wouldn't come. Especially not now, with everything starting to fall back into place. He was about to graduate, about to go to college, about to move into his own apartment with the most amazing person he had ever met. The attack had been five months ago. He had thought that meant the men would not be caught.

"Shh, my love. It's okay. You're okay. Shh." Blaine rocked him slowly, pressing kisses to the side of his face every so often. He could feel his father's eyes on them, but that wasn't important. He was too upset to feel awkward. He just needed to be held and comforted because he was about to have to do something that he had dreaded for five months. Something he didn't want to do, but knew he had to. His father was right.

"D-D-Do I h-have to?" he sobbed.

"Of course you don't." his boyfriend whispered. "But you should. You'll regret it if you don't… put these men away, Kurt."

He gave a small nod into his boyfriend's chest, signaling he would go with the police; his fist clutched Blaine's shirt tighter if that was even possible.

He heard footsteps as his father went to consult with the two police officers.

"D-D-Don't l-leave me. Don't g-g-go." Kurt gasped through his sobs, clinging to the older boy.

"Never. I'm right here, baby. I'm not going to leave your side even to go to the bathroom." Blaine pulled him closer and stroked his hair.

"Whenever you're ready we're going to go down there, kid." Burt said gruffly, coming back into the kitchen. "But take your time."

"We just need a few minutes." Blaine said softly, hugging Kurt even closer. "It's going to be okay, Kurt. I promise. Here, let's get you some water."

He moved them towards the sink and filled one handedly filled a glass of water.

Kurt sipped the water, feeling a bit better Blaine still had a hold of him and he leaned on his boyfriend. Suddenly the fact that he wasn't engaged didn't matter so much. That was right. Life always had to come and knock some sense into him. He watery hiccoughed, hand clutching Blaine's. "L-Let's get this over with. Before I c-change my mind."

Blaine set the glass in the sink, kissed him gently, and steered him from the room.


	14. Chapter 14

Kurt sat on the couch staring at the television but not really seeing it. Blaine was at his side, fingers tangled in his hair and every so often leaning over to kiss his cheek. Finn was sitting on the floor by the couch, wanting to be there for Kurt but not really sure what to do. Burt sat in his usual chair next to the couch, also blankly staring at the television. Carole, who had been feeling a little under the weather, had only gone to bed after Kurt reassured her several times that he would be fine.

He had homework to do. He had a history test on Monday that he had yet to study for and he had an English essay due Tuesday, a ten page one, that was only done through page five. His stomach was killing him because he was so hungry but every time he tried to eat it would feel even worse. He kept hearing all those voices that had said the three things Kurt could distinctly remember.

_He's just a faggot._

_Teach him a lesson._

_You're not so pretty now, are you, faggot?_

Five different voices had said each one statement, but he immediately recognized the voices of his attackers. Of course he did, how many dreams did he have about them? How many times did he think back on that day when he was alone, just remembering?

Part of him had childishly hoped that he'd go down there and not recognize any of the voices. That it had all been some coincidence. _Sorry, sir, but I don't recognize any of these voices_. That hadn't happened. When he heard the first voice say, "You're not so pretty now, are you, faggot?" he had flinched and literally jumped back into Blaine, almost knocking the two of them over. When he heard the voice say that, he knew that it was the man who had punched him over and over, called him Pretty Boy, and punctured his lung.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and, pulling himself from his thoughts, looked up and into his father's green eyes. His dad looked very concerned and he seemed almost hesitant. "I'm about to head to bed, kiddo. Are you going to be okay?"

"Are they… staying in jail?" Those were the first words he had spoken since his third time of saying, for the police, "That's one of the men who attacked me." earlier that day

Burt sat down on his other side. "The officer said that they would be able to make bond and stay out until the case is heard… so I don't know, son."

That was not what Kurt wanted to hear. Not at all. He sighed softly and nodded, wondering how in the world he would ever feel safe again. He had a feeling there would be many sleepless nights until the case was over and done with.

Burt ruffled his hair. "You made the right choice, kid. I'm proud of you. We all are."

He felt Blaine's hand squeeze his knee as his father stood. "Good night, Kurt. If you need anything, just wake me up... Try to make sure he gets some sleep tonight, Blaine." Burt patted Blaine's shoulder. "Night, boys."

"Goodnight." Finn and Blaine said quietly together.

"I want to go to bed." Kurt whispered, slowly standing up, a few minutes after his father disappeared. "You don't have to come, Blaine."

Blaine and Fin exchanged looks and Blaine stood. "Of course I'm coming."

"Fine." Kurt let out a little sigh and went on upstairs without waiting for Blaine.

"G'night, dude." Finn said quietly.

"Goodnight, Finn." Blaine followed his boyfriend.

By the time he made it into the room Kurt was in bed and had already changed his pajamas. He got under the covers silently and rolled towards the wall, not facing Blaine.

"Kurt…" Blaine whispered, climbing into bed without even changing his clothes. "Come here. Don't try to push me away right now, honey. Look at me."

"I don't feel like it right now." Kurt whispered.

"But I've got such a perfect face." Blaine said, trying to lighten the mood. Kurt rolled over to face him, biting his lip. "Have you got Kreacher over there with you?"

As if on cue, Kreacher poked his head out of the blanket and licked Kurt's face.

"Kurt, please say something…" Blaine whispered, reaching over and patting the dog's head.

Kurt didn't really know what to say. He had a lot on his mind right now and he felt incredibly overwhelmed. He looked at his boyfriend for several minutes and then leaned over to kiss him. "Thanks for going with me tonight, Blaine… I appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Blaine kissed him back.

"Shut up, Kreacher." The two of them said together as the dog started to growl.

Kurt looked down as his cell phone started to play the melody of Bad Romance. "Hey, 'Cedes."

"Baby, what's going on? Finn texted Rachel to text me and have me call you. Do I need to come kick Blaine's ass? 'Cause I know I can handle some skinny ass white boy." Mercedes barely let Kurt finish his greeting before she began quickly talking into the phone.

"Please don't." Blaine said loud enough for her to hear. "I know you could probably kill me without breaking a sweat. I'm very non-confrontational and I don't do well in fights."

"Oh. Blaine's there. It must not be Blaine that's got you upset. Hi, Blaine!"

"Hello, Mercedes." Blaine looked amused and pulled Kreacher onto his lap. "She's on the phone, you idiot. She's not actually here. Stop looking around. Silly puppy. Argh, don't lick me."

"Kurt, are you there? You two aren't making out again, are you? I know you've done that at least two ties when I've been talking before."

"No, I'm here. I'm fine." Kurt leaned against Blaine's shoulder.

"You don't sound fine. What's going on? Burt's not sick again, is he?"

Kurt could feel Blaine's eyes on him. He knew Blaine wanted him to talk about it. He knew that he probably _should_ talk about it. Carole kept saying it would make him feel better but he was so sick and tired of thinking about it. "Dad's fine, 'Cedes… they caught the guys who did it. Who… put me in the hospital. In October."

"Are you serious? Are you okay? Do you want me to come over there? We can watch Lady and the Tramp. I can bring Rachel, too."

Kurt rolled his eyes as Blaine's eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he threw his pillow at the older boy, prompting barking from Kreacher. "No, I… I'll be fine, 'Cedes."

"Then come over here. Forget about your dumb boyfriend—."

"Thanks, Mercedes." Blaine snorted.

"And I will get Rachel over here and we will watch anything you want, baby. And I'll have my mom make us some cookies and we'll Skype Quinn so you can see her new haircut since you refuse to use Facebook anymore. It's super cute. Then we can look at magazines because you know Vogue is your obsession. Come on, Kurt. Don't let this get you back down."

"I might have to _see_ them, Mercedes."

" _So_? Look them right in the face and hold your head up high. You're Kurt Hummel. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent, baby. You're better than those jerks. I think you _should_ look them right in the face. But right _now_ I think you need to get your skinny white ass in that fly car of yours and come over to my house. I'm already pulling out the Disney movies."

"I don't want—"

"If you don't come up here, Rachel and I will drive down to your house together and forcibly drag you out by the collar of whatever expensive shirt you're wearing. Don't try me, Hummel. You know I've done it before. "

Kurt remembered too well how Mercedes had literally yanked him into his Navigator and driven him up to Dalton after Blaine had turned Rachel down following their (rather appalling) sober kiss. As soon as Rachel had left, Kurt too had left the small shop. He had wanted to see how the kiss would turn out, yes, but couldn't bring himself to actually talk to the friend he was still technically in a fight with—if you could call avoiding each other for three days fighting. Those had been three very miserable days. So he had left, not particularly caring if Blaine lost his spot in line while he was in the bathroom. Blaine hadn't actually _seen_ him anyway. Despite the fact that the two boys were fight, Kurt had still called Mercedes on the way home, excitedly telling her "He's really gay! Only, I think he hates me now… but at least he's _ga_ y."

Not five minutes after he had gotten home, she marched in, said a "Hello, Mr. Hummel" to Burt, and dragged Kurt out to her jeep. She put him in the passenger seat ("What do you think you're _doing_? Have you lost your mind?"), got in the driver's seat, and did not speak another word until they got to Dalton. She didn't have to drag him—yes, there was dragging— very far because Blaine, who was skipping dinner, was sitting with David in the main office while they helped sort mail. Judging by the surprised look on Blaine's face when they walked in and David's smirk, Kurt figured they'd been talking about him.

"I really need to find some new friends." Kurt sighed. "'Cedes, I really just want to lay in bed with my puppy."

"I'm serious, Kurt. I will drive down there and pull you out of that house. You may as well save some pride and drive here yourself. We all know you're unbearable when someone hurt's your pride."

"Go." Blaine said. "You should spend some time with them. Maybe they'll take your mind off of things. And you can bring me back a cookie."

Kurt sighed and stood. He knew there was no use arguing, especially if Blaine _and_ Mercedes would end up tag teaming him. "Fine. I'll tell Dad and then I'll be on my way. But if Rachel talks about Finn the entire time, I will leave. I'm still mad at him for finishing off the lasagna. I wanted some of the leftovers for lunch today. Between Finn and Blaine, anything food related in this house is gone within an hour of bringing it home. I swear Finn was trying to eat frozen french fries out of a bag the other day, 'Cedes. Apparently they taste better that way."

"Frozen french fries?" Blaine mused. "Really?"

"Now I've gone and given Blaine a new idea. I'll be over soon, Mercedes."

"I'll see you soon, baby! Bye, Blaine!"

"Bye, Mercedes!"

Kurt hung up and sighed. "I really don't want to go."

"You haven't had a sleepover with Mercedes and Rachel since October. You need some girl time. Plus, Mercedes always knows how to cheer you up."

"You just want to watch ESPN with Finn and eat nasty things like pig skins and beef jerky." The younger boy grumbled.

"Beef jerky is disgusting." Blaine screwed his face up. "But I wouldn't mind watching Paranormal Activity with Finn, seeing as you still won't watch it with me."

"It looks scary, okay?" Kurt said impatiently, crossing the room to his dresser and pulling out a pair of pajamas. He neatly placed them into his bag and tossed his phone charger in. "I really don't understand how I ended up with you. You're so weird, Blaine."

Blaine, looking much more cheerful now that Kurt was actually speaking, grinned. "You're weird too, Kurt."

"But I'm weird in the stereotypical gay way. You're like a walking contradiction, Blaine. _I read Vogue and watch football at the same time. I'm the lead soloist of a glee club and I was scouted out by soccer recruiters. I'm in love with Katy Perry but I went to see Muse and My Chemical Romance at a concert. I dress up for work and school every day, but I wear pajamas after 6 in the afternoon._ Do you even have _any_ gay friends?"

The older boy looked thoughtful for a minute. "Uhm… well… ma—no. He's not gay… I guess I don't. No. _That is so weird_. Why don't I have any gay friends?"

"Because _you_ are weird. Do your friends at UK even know you're gay?" Kurt looked up from putting his moisturizing stuff into his bag (in another smaller bag—what if it somehow opened and leaked onto his clothes? He couldn't have another pair of pants ruined that way again). Honestly, Blaine could pass for straight. Kurt wouldn't have been surprised if he hadn't told anyone down in Kentucky that he was gay. It would have made his boyfriend's life much easier.

"Yeah, of course." Blaine nodded. "I mean, I don't go around saying 'I'm gay, look at me!' to everyone I meet but I've told some friends. Greg and Jake, the ones I play basketball with. They know. Almost everyone I work with at the bookstore knows. Becca really wants to meet you, by the way. She thinks you're adorable. Which you are."

"You talked about me at UK?" Kurt felt himself smiling despite how upset he was, his heart fluttering a bit. It was nice to know that Blaine talked about him with his Kentucky friends.

"Duh." His boyfriend snorted. "Of course I talk about you. You were practically the only thing on my mind down there, Kurt. That's probably why my boss at Kennedy's was so understanding about me having to up and leave. And why he's giving me the job back once I start summer school. It would just be weird to be at UK, to meet people, and _not_ talk about you. You're very important to me and a big part of my life. I'd be living a lie if I just pretended you don't exist."

Kurt rushed forward and threw his arms around Blaine's neck, suddenly overwhelmed with love for his boyfriend. "I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too, babe. Did you really think I was up at UK pretending to be straight and not talking about you?" Blaine asked softly, hugging him. "Of course not. Besides, it is way too fun when I tell someone I'm gay who thinks I'm completely straight. The looks on people's faces can be really funny."

"Is everyone nice about it?"

"Yeah… I mean, I've had a few people that kind of distance themselves after they find out but I don't let it bother me." He stroked Kurt's face. "You should really finish packing up. Mercedes and Rachel will be waiting."

Kurt sighed. "I don't know if I can handle a girls night right now, Blaine."

"You don't have a choice. So finish packing your bag and getting ready. They'll take your mind off of things. Probably better than I can, even." Blaine kissed him gently. "And I'll go through your essay when you're gone and correct it, so you don't have to worry about that."

The younger boy nodded, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. "Okay… keep your phone by you?"

"Of course I will. Call me whenever you want. Even if it's at four in the morning."

Kurt kissed his cheek and gave him a small hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie."

* * *

"We've got everything set up." Rachel Berry said before Kurt had even gotten out of his car. "There are cookies in the oven, a cheesecake chilling in the fridge, and my dads sent over a bag full of candy for you. Bryden is watching The Little Mermaid so we can't watch that one quite yet, but Mercedes will get it back for us if she tries to watch it six times in a row like last week when I babysat her. _And_ —."

Kurt stared at her blankly for a few minutes before he got out of the car, throwing his bag over his shoulder. "Hello to you too."

She threw her arms around him and gave him a tight squeeze. "Come on in. We're going to make you forget all about it, Kurt. This is going to be the best girls night we've ever had.—and that last one will be pretty hard to top. We plan to get ice cream at midnight too, if we remember."

"Good luck with distracting me." Kurt sighed and followed her into the house. He appreciated the gesture, he really did, but he didn't see how anything would help him feel better right now.

"There you are, baby! I haven't seen you in months!" Mercedes' mother rushed forward and pulled him into a big hug. "Now if you want to watch The Little Mermaid now I'll get it from Bry Bry."

"But _mom_ ," whined Mercedes' sister from the couch, standing on it and turning to look at them. "It's at the best _part_." Kurt could see that she was the necklace he and Mercedes had picked out for the girl for Christmas. It suited her quite well.

"Say hello to Kurt." The woman said slowly.

"Hi, Kurt." She sighed and plopped back onto the couch. "Please don't take my movie away."

Mercedes' mother rolled her eyes. "Bry, what is it going to take for you to get some manners? You're going to put your father and I into an early grave. Just ignore her, Kurt. She's in this stage where she thinks she can do whatever she wants."

"But Mercedes gets to do what _she_ wants." The girl stood back on the couch again.

"Mercedes is not seven. She is eighteen." Mercedes' mother leaned over, kissing her daughter's forehead. "She also doesn't stand on mommy's furniture when she knows it isn't allowed."

" _Fiiine_." Bryden plopped down again.

Mercedes came in from the kitchen and threw her arms around Kurt suddenly. "You're here, baby!"

"Mercedes, can I hang out with you, Kurt, and Rachel?" Bryden hopped right back into a standing position again. "I'll act really grown up. I promise. I want to show Kurt my model walk." She looked to Kurt. "It's really good."

"Is it?" Kurt asked. He didn't know why, but he was beginning to feel a little better. It was nice to be back at the Jones' house. He definitely had a soft spot for Bryden. Then again, he always had.

"We've got some grown up things to talk about, Bry Bry. But you can show him now and then maybe you can hang out with us in a bit." Mercedes responded.

"Okay, okay." She stood and paused the movie. "I have to go get my CD! Don't leave, Kurt!"

"I'm not leaving." Kurt promised, dropping his bag onto the floor beside him.

Mercedes' mother rolled her eyes and patted his shoulder. "You're so sweet, Kurt. She always talks about how she's going to model your clothes when you're famous. She's already your biggest fan."

"Really?" Kurt asked, smiling a bit.

"Oh, definitely. She talks about it all the time. You and your future as a designer." She laughed. "I'm going to go and check on the cookies. If she gets to be too much, just send her to me to help."

Bryden ran back in holding a pink CD case that was decorated with several jewels in an intricate pattern. "This is my _Bryden's Dance Mix CD Extraordinaire_ , Kurt. Mercedes made it for me! It's got amazing songs on it."

"Ooh, I like the case you made. It's very pretty. Did you make it by yourself?"

"Uh-huh! Well, Daddy helped with the super glue. But I showed him where to put them. Kurt, do you really have a _boyfriend_?"

"Bryden!" Mercedes gasped. "Shh!"

"It's silly." Bryden giggled. "I thought boys liked girls and girls liked boys."

"I do have a boyfriend." Kurt said gently. "And I like him a lot."

"Does he like you too, Kurt?" she asked curiously.

"I sure hope so." He smiled at her.

"Well it's still silly, but that's okay I guess. Do either of you wear a dress?"

"No, but sometimes I wear a kilt." He gave her a grin.

She giggled loudly and clapped. "I remember! I saw it in the prom pictures! Daddy said you've got guts! And Mommy said your boyfriend is cute for a white boy."

Kurt laughed loudly this time and hugged her. "Show me your walk. If it's really good I may make you an amazing outfit next year that you can wear."

"Really?" her eyes widened in delight. "Really and truly? You _promise_?"

"I promise. But only if your walk is _really_ good."

"Okay!" she thrust the CD case into his hands and ran to the stereo, putting the disc in.

Kurt laughed even louder when Single Ladies came on and the seven year old did a very exaggerated yet completely adorable model walk. "She is too cute; can I just take her home?"

Mercedes' father came in, several papers in his hand. "I'll pay you to take her home. Even for a night."

"Daddy!" she laughed and wrapped her arms around his leg. "Daddy thinks I'm too loud."

"You get it from your sister." He laughed and led her from the room, saying, "Come on, let's leave these big kids alone. I smell some cookies with our names on them."

"Let's get out of here before she comes back." Mercedes said, practically pushing them towards the stairs. She locked the door and clapped her hands together. "Operation LCKU is officially in session."

"Operation LC…what?" Kurt asked, sitting cross-legged on her bed and arching his eyebrow.

"Operation LCKU. Let's Cheer Kurt Up." There was a knock on the door. "Not now, Bryden!"

"But I just want to know if my walk was good, Mer Mer! Kurt, was my walk good? Was it? It was really good, wasn't it? Mommy says it's really very good!"

"It was _amazing_ , sweetheart!" Kurt called back to her. "What color do you want your outfit to be?"

"Purple! Purple! I'M SO EXCITED!" They heard her running down the hall yelling, "MOMMY! KURT'S GOING TO MAKE ME A PURPLE OUTFIT! MOMMY!"

"That girl is more trouble than she's worth." Mercedes shook her head, but she was smiling. "She's a diva and a half. At least, she'd like to think so."

Rachel began rummaging through her bag. "I think she's positively adorable. I hope mine and Finn's first born is that adorable. We're going to have a girl and two years later a boy. He's going to be gay."

"… You're planning on your child being gay?" Kurt asked slowly while Mercedes gave her a bewildered look. "You realize that you don't… _plan_ for it to happen, right?"

"Oh, we're not planning it. We just know it's going to happen." She waved her hand in the air. "With my influence, how could he _not_ be?"

"Girl, Kurt might kill you if you don't shut up soon." Mercedes laughed as she pulled a bag of cookies off of her nightstand and ripped it open.

"Rachel, you can't _plan_ for your child to be gay. Just like you can't _plan_ for your first child to be a girl. That's like saying you can predict the day you're going to die."

"November 23, 2085. I'm going to die at the age of 91. I'll be buried next to Finn. He's going to die approximately 1,486 days before me. I'll die of a broken heart." She let out a very tragic sounding sigh. "It'll be beautiful."

Mercedes shared a look with Kurt and shook her head. They were on the same page. Rachel was clearly insane.

"Rachel, do you know how ridiculous that is?" Kurt asked again, voice still equally as slow as it was the last two times he spoke to her. "I mean, you can't just _predict_ this stuff."

"But it's fate, Kurt. It will happen." She leaned over and took a cookie from the bag. "Life is tragic, isn't it? But it's okay. At the age of 23 I'll star in my first Broadway show. Finn will propose when I'm 27. Our first child, Molly, will be born two and a quarter years later."

"Alright, why don't we talk about something else?" Mercedes said, clearing her throat. "Like prom."

"Yes! Let's! Now I know my dress last year was absolutely stunning on me, but this year I'm thinking dark green. It'll be long, of course. You can't wear tea length two years in a row. Do you think Finn will go with me?"

"Does it matter?" Mercedes sighed. "I'll be going alone. Are you wearing a kilt again, Kurt?"

"I'm not going to prom." Kurt said in a very firm voice. No way was he going to subject himself to that again. Who did they think they were kidding? Yes, the prom itself had been lovely. Leaving the prom? Not so much.

"It's your senior prom, Kurt. It's a rule that you have to go!" Rachel exclaimed. "It's practically a passageway to graduation and to life after high school."

"Yeah, Kurt. You have to go." Mercedes nodded. "If you don't, I'll have no one to mope with."

"Are we forgetting what happened last prom?"

"Of course not, baby. But don't you _want_ to go? You were so excited for prom last year."

_A lot has changed since last year_ , he thought. "I have no urge at all to go to prom. It doesn't mean I won't still help you two pick out your dresses, shoes, and stuff."

"You really don't want to go? Was it that bad last year?" Rachel asked softly.

"It certainly wasn't pleasant driving home with blood all over our shirts." Kurt sighed and pulled his knees to his chest, resting his head on them. "Besides, I think one prom is enough. Don't look so sad, 'Cedes."

"I feel like you'll regret it." Mercedes frowned.

"Yeah, Kurt. And besides, it won't be the same without you. I had a lot of fun making fun of people's dresses last year with you guys." Rachel added in, taking a seat by him.

"Take pictures and come by my house afterwards. But don't use 'Cedes' camera phone. The resolution on it sucks—sorry, Mercedes."

Mercedes shook her head and laughed. "It's true, boo. My phone takes awful pictures."

The three fell silent and Kurt bit his lip, trying to not think back to earlier that day at the police station and hearing those voices again.

"Did you two find a place?" Mercedes scooted close to him, seeming to sense his thoughts drifting away.

"Ooh, we did." Kurt perked right up and pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I took pictures! The ones on Blaine's phone are a bit better. I can show you two those tomorrow." He unlocked his phone and smiled when he saw he had a text from Blaine.

"What's it say?" Mercedes nudged him twice and smirked.

He opened the text, smiling more, and read out, "I hope you're feeling better. I love you."

"That boy has got it _bad_ for you, Kurt." Mercedes nudged him again as he quickly replied to the text, letting Blaine know he _did_ feel better and that he loved him too.

"Badder than bad." Rachel agreed. "I mean, obviously. I can't believe he chose you over me though. We're practically the same person."

"How many times do I have to tell you to not say that?" Kurt asked impatiently. "And we are _not_ the same person. I, for instance, have better taste in clothes than you. And I'm more popular."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "My taste in clothing is just fine, thank you very much. Just ask Finn."

"Guys, don't start bickering. I know it's all _supposedly_ in good fun, but this is supposed to be about cheering Kurt up." Mercedes interrupted.

"By the way, though, Finn is a much better kisser than your boyfriend. How is Blaine Warbler?"

"You know," Kurt sighed. "I don't think he likes that you call him that very much. His last name is _Anderson_."

"He was really much cuter last year. He needs to maintain his hair cut." Rachel said thoughtfully.

"His hair is the same length." Kurt said impatiently, now getting a little annoyed at Rachel. "He just isn't styling it as much."

"Okay, okay. Let's watch Lady and the Tramp." Mercedes said quickly, getting off the bed and going to a huge stack of DVDs that were neatly set up on her bedroom floor . "Before you two decide to take it past good fun and go all diva on me. I am the only diva allowed under this roof. Unless you count Bry Bry, but she's really just a diva in training."

"Why Lady in the Tramp? There are so many better Disney movies." Rachel tucked her legs underneath her.

"Because it is _Kurt's_ favorite and this sleepover is Operation LC _K_ U. Not Operation LCRU. Now go downstairs and bring up the cookies and the cheesecake." Mercedes spoke with her back to them as she set up the DVD player.

Rachel nodded and hopped off.

"You doing okay, baby?" Mercedes popped the movie in and crawled onto the bed next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm fine." Kurt muttered. "At least bickering takes my mind off of things."

"Tell me about the house. You never finished. And show me those pics."

He sat up straight and clicked "photos" on the screen of his phone, then passed it to her.

"This is nice! Is it a one bedroom?" she asked, flipping through them. "Oh, I love the kitchen."

"Let's not even _talk_ about how awkward it was to look for a one bedroom apartment with my boyfriend and father, 'Cedes. And the real estate agent made it ten times worse." He leaned his head on her shoulder, looking at the pictures. "Look. It's got a built in bookshelf. Blaine was sold the second he walked in the door and saw it."

"He likes to read?" Mercedes asked. "This apartment is so cute, Kurt!"

"He's an English major, he loves to read." Kurt laughed. "He's probably reading my essay as we speak and re-writing half of it."

"I'm so jealous of you two." Mercedes rested her head on Kurt's and sighed dreamily. "You really love him, don't you?"

"I do." Kurt snuggled closer. "He's amazing. He loves you, by the way. He asks about you every day when I get home from school."

"I was a bit hesitant about him at first… He seems almost too perfect, you know. I keep waiting for that big kicker. That big flaw that throws everything into disarray."

Kurt pursed his lips together. He hadn't told Mercedes or anyone about Blaine's past and he didn't intend to because it was Blaine's story to tell. Blaine's and no one else's. Hell, how long had it taken for Blaine to open up to Kurt about it? Kurt was convinced that if he hadn't outright asked Blaine that he still wouldn't know to do this day about his past. That made him uncomfortable sometimes. Was there anything else big that Blaine was hiding from him? He continually pushed that thought away though. He didn't _really_ think Blaine was hiding anything else from him and honestly it wouldn't change his feelings for the boy if he was.

Rachel came in balancing a plate of cookies over the cheesecake. "These cookies smell _delicious_ , Mercedes. And your sister is adorable. I used to have one of those Disney nightgowns too."

"Don't tell _her_ she's adorable." Mercedes let Kurt free and took the plate of cookies from Rachel, setting them on the bed. "Rach, look at the pictures of Kurt and Blaine's apartment. It's very cute."

"It's kind of small." Kurt lay on his stomach on the bed and handed his phone to Rachel who had sat down on the floor, back against the bed. He then added, "But we both really like it. We don't need a big place anyway. It's got two full closets, so we're good."

"Oh my goodness! I _love_ the kitchen!" Rachel exclaimed. "The colors on the walls are gorgeous! This is amazing!"

Kurt leaned over, pointing stuff out to her in the pictures, as the movie started. After a few minutes of cooing over Kurt's new apartment she handed his phone back and joined the two of them on the bed, laying on Kurt's other side. They were half way through the movie when Kurt curled up, head on Rachel's shoulder, and fell asleep hearing Rachel say softly, "It's okay. We'll get him to talk about it tomorrow. We should let him sleep while he can."

He had never been more appreciative of Rachel Berry in his life.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got enough comments via review and PM about this that I thought I should put this with the chapter (you may want to read this AFTER you've finished the chapter--or at least finished part one), something I don't really like to do but I think is warranted here. Kurt and Blaine have only had, like, two fights in the whole story. And yes, Kurt has been at fault in both of them but I'm not hating on Kurt. He is going through a lot of stuff and, sadly, when people are going through shit they usually take it out on the person closest to them—in this case, Blaine. I'm not meaning to make Kurt out to be the bad guy here, I love my Kurt! He's going through a really tough time and he's handling it in a bad way—a really bad way—but it's going to make him care for Blaine more because of it. My feelings on it—Kurt's been very spoiled his entire life, always gets his way (for the most part), and he's adjusting to Mercedes going out and doing his dream in the near future (something he is now wondering if he really does want), finding out that not only have his attackers been found but they may be on the streets still in the event they paid bond, he may have to testify, his dad admitted his hospital bills were getting pretty steep, his family is about to go/is going through a crisis, now he's about to be a big brother when he's so used to being the baby, he's about to graduate high school and move out (sort of) on his own, and on top of that he's not entirely sure he can trust Blaine to be completely honest with him—and trust is something very important in any serious relationship and if there is a lack of trust, believe me, it shows. Everything is changing. I don't want to be like "Oh, Kurt's going through a lot, he didn't mean it, blah blah!" because that is not the case. Going through a lot is no excuse for how he acted. Kurt just has a lot of growing up to do still. A lot. He should have stood up for Blaine, he should have noticed Blaine was upset, he shouldn't have been making any comments like that at all regardless if it was aimed at Blaine's past or not. He's not perfect. He needs to realize his faults. And he needs to be able to see what Blaine has done and given up for him and just how much he cares about Blaine. He is handling everything he is going through very poorly (as most teenagers in his position would, whether they would admit it or not…) but he loves Blaine. He's going to have to see the error of his ways, realize just how much Blaine has done for him, and realize that he needs to step it up on the relationship front too. Because let's face it, Blaine's been handling a lot of the stress on his own and that's not good!
> 
> So, don't hate Kurt (or me…please!) just yet. They've really only had two fights. They can't live in la la land forever. Fights are just part of being in a relationship and definitely when you live together and as you grow closer.
> 
> Also, another thing I feel the need to point out which goes along with this, I'm not trying to write Blaine as being the perfect character. He's very flawed, he's got several of his own problems; he's just been casting them aside to help Kurt deal with his. Which is not healthy in any way, shape, or form. Blaine has got a lot of growing up to do too: like letting people know when things get to be too much, opening up to someone when something is wrong, and it wouldn't help if he got a "you(r feelings) matter" talk from Burt. He needs to stand up for himself more. I don't want to upset anyone by making Kurt out to be the mean boyfriend and Blaine to be the perfect guy who never does any wrong. I'm sure Blaine will start his own fair share of arguments in the future too. I don't want to upset you guys (especially the Kurt fans), because that makes me sad. I love my boys equally! I promise, I do! But I do want them to go through big arguments because getting through stuff like that makes a relationship stronger and it makes you see what you have.

** _Part One_ **

Three uneventful days passed. By uneventful, Blaine really meant that Kurt had not had a mental breakdown and that they still had no idea to what extent Kurt would be involved in the trial concerning his attacks. By uneventful he also meant that he had been driving Kurt to school and Mercedes or Rachel had been driving him home, because he "just felt safer" that way. By uneventful he _also_ meant that, despite the tension in the house, no arguments had broken out. Not yet at least, but Blaine knew that eventually someone would say something to Kurt that would send him over the edge and push all of his frustration out. Blaine really hoped _he_ wasn't the person to be that someone.

Kurt was at the head of their bed, sitting up with his back against the pillows and supposedly typing an essay for his English class on Blaine's laptop—his own laptop had yet to be replaced and he wasn't too bothered about it, to be honest. Blaine was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, several worksheets out in front of him and his book in his lap. He couldn't help but remember that this is how Kurt and Blaine had always studied together at Dalton—only at Dalton they had been in Wes and Blaine's dorm room and sitting on Blaine's bed.

"You _did_ get drunk a lot, didn't you?"

Blaine looked up from his (extremely huge and heavy) _Norton Anthology of American Literature_ textbook. He had been in the middle of a particularly interesting Walt Whitman poem. Well, he was sure it would have been interesting if he'd been paying as much attention to it as he should have. Even the simplest poetry confused Blaine. He thought it was the stanzas. He was really just not a poetry person. He would rather read a 30 page essay over paint drying than a five stanza poem written by anybody. "What?"

Kurt just snorted, not even looking up from the computer screen.

"Hey, what are you _doing_? You're not typing and typing is required to write an essay." Blaine cast his book aside. It fell to the floor with a loud thump and he crawled to the head of the bed, looking down. "Oh god. I thought you hated Facebook now, Kurt. Give me my computer."

"No. This is too much fun. It's not like I haven't seen them before. Only now that we date, I feel less creepy." Kurt turned his body so Blaine couldn't pull the laptop from his arms. "Now I am really curious as to what's going on in this picture. And how old were you? Your hair is so big."

"Let me see and I'll tell you." Blaine grunted, still trying to wrestle his laptop away. "Kurt, come on. I don't sit and watch your YouTube videos."

"How do you know about those videos?" Kurt stopped struggling, jaw dropping.

"Aha!" Blaine freed the laptop and held it to his chest. "I have my ways."

"I thought that page was private! Mr. Schue said that page was private!"

"Again, I have my ways." Was all Blaine said, smirking. "Not so badass are you now, Kurt Hummel?"

"Oh god, Blaine. Which ones did you see?"

"We watched every video we could, which was all of them." Blaine stood and carried his laptop to the desk, well out of arm's reach. "Well, Wes, David, and Thad did. They only made the whole club watch a few."

"B-but _how_?"

"Have you _ever_ met Wes? You know, he hacked into the government once via the internet. His computer conveniently caught a virus two seconds later and could never be repaired, but he was totally in."

"Wes hacks into computers?"

"You make it sound so wrong. You know Wes, David, and Thad. We found everything we could on every glee club we competed with well before any competition."

"That is cheating." Kurt scoffed.

" _You drove two hours to spy on us_."

"So… are you saying that you knew where I was from that day on the staircase?" Kurt asked slowly, looking at him. "That is worse than just knowing I'm a spy. That is creepy."

"Kurt, my love, anyone would have known you were a spy. I didn't watch the videos as obsessively as Wes did, though. Don't flatter yourself. I didn't know _who_ you were until Wes got back onto the New Directions YouTube channel after you left. I don't do the dirty work."

"But _how_?"

"The password was newdirections1, Kurt. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out." Blaine snorted again. "I can't believe you used to stalk my Facebook pictures. Just when I thought you couldn't be any more adorable."

Kurt opened his mouth and closed it again, just making a "hmph!" noise.

Blaine turned around and leaned over to see the computer screen, wondering exactly what picture Kurt had been looking at. Kurt tilted his head, shamelessly staring at Blaine's butt, although Blaine could not see he was doing this.

"I was fifteen when that was taken." Blaine said, not looking around. "That was actually right before I cut my hair off. That was my _favorite_ shirt. Wes lost it though. Long story, don't ask."

"Hmm." Kurt said, not really paying attention.

"And I wasn't drunk in this picture either. Just very happy. David's dad had brought us a bunch of ice cream for our big sleepover. I don't really remember what exactly we were doing though."

"Uh-huh."

Blaine looked around and then stood up straight. "Kurt Hummel, were you just checking out my ass?"

Kurt, looking like a deer in headlights, could do nothing but nod as his cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.

Blaine grinned and climbed onto the bed, crawling to him. "Did you like what you saw?"

"Oh my god, don't." Kurt suddenly giggled. "Please don't tickle me. I'll never stare at your ass again."

The older boy climbed over him, ducked down and kissed his cheek. "I'm not going to tickle you."

Kurt's breathing hitched a bit and he placed his hands on Blaine's waist. "C-come here then."

Blaine leaned down, capturing Kurt's lips with his own. Kurt kissed back eagerly as he pulled his boyfriend closer. Blaine let out smaller whimpers into the kiss, fingers in his hair.

"W-We've got t-two hours." Kurt panted, pulling away from the kiss.

"Homewor—"

"Shut up." Kurt said, pushing Blaine's shirt up. "Off, off."

Blaine tugged the shirt off and began quickly unbuttoning Kurt's white Dior collar shirt that he would never admit cost as much as it did.

"If you tear a button off of my sh—" he was silenced by another very distracting kiss. He made a noise in the back of his throat but within seconds was kissing his boyfriend back heatedly. Blaine pulled the shirt off almost a little too expertly and kissed down his neck. "Oh god, Blaine…"

Blaine looked up and gave him an adorable grin. "Yes?"

"That was not a cue to stop." Kurt put his hand on the back of Blaine's head and guided it back down. Blaine began sucking on his lower neck in a way that made Kurt feel like he was melting into a puddle of goo right on his bed and in a way that made his tight pants much tighter. Much, much tighter. He opened his mouth to say "Oh my god" again, but all that came out was a rather loud groan. Thank God for catastrophes at the garage, thank god for his father being a workaholic. He reached down and struggled to undo Blaine's jeans.

Blaine reached down and, fingers brushing against his, undid the buttons.

"Always the gentlemen." Kurt gasped out.

"Of course." Blaine gave him that adorable smile again and moved to pull them down. Kurt took his own off and pulled Blaine flat on top of them, pressing himself against Blaine. Blaine groaned loudly, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and his own hands shaking.

"Kurt? Kurt, sweetie, are you home?"

The boys pulled away, eyes widening.

"Oh my god, what is she doing here? Oh my god." Kurt jumped up, pulling his shirt on. "Coming, Grammy! _What is she doing here?_ "

"Fuck." Blaine could think of nothing else to say. He didn't use that word on very many occasions either. This one seemed to warrant the use of the word though.

"I can't wear tight pants like this right now. Shit, shit, shit." Kurt grabbed pajama pants out of his drawer, removed his collar shirt (which was wrinkled from being thrown on the floor anyway—he and Blaine would have to have another talk about that), and pulled on a t -shirt.

"Kuuuurt?" this voice was his aunt's.

"Oh my _God_." Kurt whimpered and scattered from the room.

"It's about time. I was beginning to wonder if you were doing the dirty." His redhead aunt winked at him. Was he blushing? Yes, he probably was.

"What's going on, Aunt Paige?"

"Where's daddy? He should be home soon, right?" Paige asked, looking around.

"Oh, there's Blaine. I was really hoping he'd be home! Hello, sweetheart." Kurt's grandmother smiled and went to hug Blaine as he reached the foot of the stairs. "How are your classes going?"

"They're going good." Blaine said smoothly. Then again, he'd probably had practice at talking to adults immediately after almost having sex before. Kurt, on the other hand, had not. He always had a while to mentally prepare himself before seeing his father and stepmother. Generally he had at _least_ two hours. Not two seconds.

"Dad's working late tonight." He mumbled, looking down. The fact that his aunt kept winking at him and Blaine whenever his grandmother was not looking was not helping matters at all.

"I'll call him. He needs to come home. We're in the middle of a family crisis." His grandmother said, pulling out her cell phone. "How do I use this again, Paige?"

"Mother, you used it five minutes ago to call Dad."

"Yes, well, he was my last call. All I have to do is push one button." She looked at Blaine. "Does your grandmother know how to use a cell phone, dear?"

"She uses one a lot for work." Blaine nodded, showing her how to find her contact list. "She knows how to use hers more than I know mine, probably."

Paige laughed loudly at that, draping an arm over Kurt. "Kurt, are you a virgin?"

Kurt went very stiff, Blaine's mouth opened, and his grandmother sighed. "Crisis. As I said. Paige, stop it."

"You're drunk, Aunt Paige." Kurt said softly as the smell of liquor finally hit him, moving away from her.

"I'm not _drunk_. I just had a- a few drinks. Shots. Drinks and shots."

"Burt, this is your mother. You need to come home now." Kurt's grandmother said into her phone a few moments later. "I'm sure your son would rather you come sooner than later, sweetheart… no, this isn't about a surprise for the baby. Just come on." She turned to Blaine. "I hope nothing you see today will make you think any less of her. _Mid-life crisis_." She mouthed the last words and then gestured as if she was drinking from a bottle.

"Wait, why is that a family crisis?" Kurt asked. "Aunt Paige, I'd really rather you not touch my hair. I spent—yeah, okay. _Grammy, help_."

"All will be out when Daddy gets home. Paige, sit on the couch."

"I'm 40. You can't tell me what to do. Burt's 38, boss _him_ around."

It was becoming quite obvious the woman was drunk now. Kurt didn't know how he hadn't seen before. She sat down, pulling Kurt with her. "Dump him, Kurt. He's just going to crush your heart and your soul and keep you from your dreams. You've got such pretty dreams."

"W—" Kurt mouthed wordlessly. "What?"

"Boys are stupid, Kurt. They're all stupid. And girls too. Everyone but y-you and I. We'll be the Three Musketeers. Right? You can move to New York with me and we'll have a dandy ole time."

Fifteen minutes later the door opened and Burt rushed in, Carole following behind. "What's going on? Is Dad alright?"

"Your father is fine, but he's throwing another one of his fits and refused to come. What else is new?" Kurt's grandmother sighed.

"Is she _drunk_?" Burt went over and pried Paige off of Kurt, who practically ran to Blaine's side, grabbing his hand. "She _is_ drunk. You reek of it. Did she drive here?"

"Heavens no. I drove her car. She did drive to my house though from New York. At two in the morning. Your father's just furious. We put her to bed and when we woke up later this morning we found her like this." Kurt's grandmother gestured at his aunt.

"Don't touch me." Paige scowled at Burt. "I don't _like_ you. I bet you're happy, Burt. I b-bet you're happy. You've always hated her."

"What's going on?" Kurt asked timidly.

She came over, patted Blaine's shoulder, and wrapped her arms around her grandson. "Aunt Taylor proposed to Aunt Paige last night… and Paige turned her down."

"Damn right I did. She doesn't like my dog!"

Carole went over to Paige. "Let's get you something to eat, sweetie. You might feel better."

"No, no. I want to see Burt's reaction. He's waited for this for _fifteen years_. Feels good, doesn't it, Burt? You were right. Gay people don't deserve the right to be happy. Well who gave you _your_ rights, Burt?" she slurred.

"Shut up and don't be ridiculous." Burt said sharply, glancing to Kurt.

"Oh-ho-ho, you may be father of the year, little brother, but you're a terrible brother. Does your little baby know what you were like when you were his age? Does he?"

Blaine looked between Paige and Burt, and then looked to Kurt. "Let's go work on your essay. I'll show you how to cite MLA again since you—"

"Don't you boss him around like that!" Paige shouted. "Who do you think you are, talking to him like that?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Burt shouted right back. "If you've got a problem, don't take it out on him. You're acting psychotic and, frankly, I'd like Kurt to leave the room too. He's my son. Do you have a problem with that?"

"My problem is with _you_! You and every other bigoted homophobe in this damn country!"

"Blaine, get Kurt out of the house. Now." Burt said sharply.

"You tried to ruin my life, Burt! You let those people do to me exactly what those boys did to your son!"

Blaine, who was trying to nudge Kurt from the room, stopped. Burt said nothing, just stared at Kurt.

"Paige, what are you playing at? That was 20 years ago. Kurt, don't—."

"Dad?" Kurt whispered.

"How dare you come into _my_ house and talk like that? You've waited since he was three to say this to Kurt, haven't you?" Burt finally said, turning back to his drunken sister. "I _love_ my son and don't you _dare_ try to make him think any differently. Blaine, please just get him out of the house." He added the last part a little desperately.

"Come on." Blaine tugged his arm very gently.

"Don't touch him!" Paige shrieked.

"Don't talk to Blaine like that!"

"You're just taking him in because you feel guilty. Burt. Otherwise he'd—."

Carole came forward and nudged both boys out of the living room and into the kitchen. "Go and get dinner." She pulled money out of her pocket. "Call Finn and see if he wants to join you. Don't come back for a while."

"No. I want to know what's going on." Kurt said slowly.

"Sweetie, you need to get out of here until things calm down. Alright? After dinner everyone will fill you in. I don't know what's going on, but I do know that you don't need to be here. Especially if she's going to keep taking shots at Blaine for trying to _protect_ you."

"She doesn't drink. Ever." Kurt protested.

"It's not an excuse." Carole sad firmly. "Please, Kurt. Don't fight me on this. I know that you're stressed, we all are. Don't take this and make it into more than it needs to be."

"My dad—."

" _Kurt_. Please. Go have dinner. Burt will talk to you later, sweetie. Okay?" she touched his face "Just go have dinner while this blows over."

The voices in the other room were rising, but it was clear that Kurt's grandmother was trying to quite them down until Kurt and Blaine had left. Kurt's name came up several times. Blaine slid an arm around his waist and kissed the side of his face. "Come on, we'll stop and get some dog food on the way home. We needed to go out for that anyway."

Kurt eventually nodded and, after sending one last look towards the living room, allowed himself to be pulled from the house.

"What…. What did she mean? What did she say? He let people do to her what the football players did to me? But he was a football player. Why didn't he stop them?"

"Carole said to not make it bigger than it is, Kurt…" Blaine said softly as he started the car. "I think you should not think about it."

"But if my _dad_ was doing _that_ —"

"Your dad loves you. Does anything he did before you were born matter? Really?"

"If he bullied my aunt because she was a lesbian, Blaine, than yes! It matters!" his voice came out entirely louder than he meant it to.

"No, Kurt." Blaine shook his head as he pulled out of the driveway. "You have been _looking_ for _something_ to freak out about for four days. You're trying to latch onto this, babe. No. Don't. It doesn't matter."

"What Karofsky did to me doesn't matter?" Kurt faced him. The face was eerily similar to the one that Kurt had given Blaine's father in the garage.

"That is _not_ what I said, Kurt. You are putting words into my mouth."

"He ran me out of my _school_ , Blaine. How does that not matter? He threatened to kill me!"

Blaine pulled over, still in the neighborhood. He put the car in park and turned to Kurt, speaking calmly and rationally. "It is two _completely_ different situations. Dave Karofsky is in love with you and confused about his sexuality. He—"

"He harassed me until I had to leave McKinley, Blaine. He shoved me into lockers, he threatened to kill me. Do you have any idea what it was like to not know if I'd get beaten up at school every day?"

"Shockingly, yes! I do! Do you forget why _I_ transferred to Dalton?" Not good. Had Blaine _ever_ risen his voice to Kurt? Not like this, he hadn't. Maybe the one time when Kurt trashed his pain medicine, but that was different. "I don't know if you realize or not, but you are not the _only_ person to have suffered bullying! In fact, _thousands_ of people are bullied _every day_!"

"Obviously my own _father_ contributed to that number! And he actually acts like he accepts me? How can he accept me if he did that to his own sister?"

"I don't know what you're dad did 20 years ago, Kurt, but I know that I have _never_ seen someone more accepting than your father now! How many times has he gone down to McKinley to fight for you? For you to get a freaking solo audition, for you being bullied? Does that not count for anything?" Blaine said loudly.

"No! No, it doesn't!" Kurt kicked the car door angrily. "No. It doesn't!"

"If your dad didn't accept you as gay, Kurt, why would he let me live with you? Why would he let me sleep in your bed?" he lowered his voice, back to a calm level.

"He probably hopes you'll give me AIDS and I'll die."

Blaine's breath caught in his throat and he felt tears stinging in his eyes. He didn't know if Kurt was referencing his past, but it still hurt. And Kurt just continued to angrily stare out the window.

"Can we just go? I don't want to sit here and argue with you." He finally asked impatiently.

Blaine wiped his eyes, unnoticed by Kurt, and began driving again. He tried very hard to not sniffle or take any deep breaths. He didn't want Kurt to see that he was so close to crying—well really, he _was_ crying. But not to the point where he couldn't safely drive.

They pulled into the first restaurant they came to, which happened to be Breadsticks. Kurt took a seat and Blaine went straight to the bathroom without a word. The second the door closed he locked it and wiped his eyes furiously. This wasn't fair. First Kurt's aunt had yelled at him for no good reason and now Kurt was insinuating that he had AIDS? Was that was Kurt meant? It sure sounded like it. Well, really, it sounded more like he was insinuating Blaine was a whore. Did it?

He didn't want to cry, especially not in some public restroom, but he couldn't help it. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to move up here with Kurt. Maybe he should have stayed at UK, maybe he should have not grabbed Kurt's hand that day in Dalton, dragging him into the commons area. Maybe he was just a stupid little boy who was never going to be happy. Never going to really feel loved.

He slid down the wall, trying to not think about how gross the floor probably was, and let himself cry. He pulled his knees to his chest, bit his lip hard, and cried. His parents hated him, his grandmother hated him, he had no family, and now members of Kurt's family were going to start in on him? And Kurt _himself_? Crying wasn't cutting it for him. None of these quiet tears were helping so he stopped biting his lip and let out a choked sob, hugging his legs tighter to his chest and found himself wishing that he was seventeen again. Seventeen and at Wes' house singing along loudly with Katy Perry with Wes while David scowled and went on about how she was auto-tuned and how her boobs were fake ("Are not!" quipped Wes). Then he started to cry more because he really missed Wes and David.

Blaine had to get a grip on himself. He was almost nineteen years old. He was going to be nineteen in less than two months and he was sitting in a public bathroom crying like a fourteen year old girl. He gasped for breath, trying to both quiet and calm his sobs. Damage control. That was what this was. He'd done it several times in the bathrooms at middle school. He would go in the stall, shut himself against the door, hug his knees, cry, and then calm himself down. That would hold him over until he got home. Blaine had always been too sensitive. When he was twelve, even the slightest comment about his unruly hair, if said by the wrong person, could bring him to tears. Every time someone picked on him for being too skinny, too short, too quiet, too girlish, he would cry. He had spent more time in his life crying than he'd ever admit.

 _How could Kurt say that_?

Yes, he was being sensitive. He had to be.

Just.

Just.

He wiped his face with a rough brown napkin so hard that it left his face feeling raw. It was very obvious he had been crying.

He had been trying _so_ hard to get everyone in Kurt's family to like him and he'd blown it. Just like that. He let out another sob, more tears filling his eyes as he looked in the mirror. He wanted so hard to fit in with Kurt's family. Even if he could still be a bit shy around them, he absolutely adored Carole. Before she would head to work her and Blaine would drink coffee and talk about different things, like what he wanted to do after school and recently what she wanted to name her new baby. Burt always told him stories about the Buckeyes—both from his old teammates and the new members because he knew the coach very well. Finn was becoming a close friend to him just like David and Wes were. They could easily go out to lunch on Fridays before Kurt got home from school, grab a pizza, and chat for the entire meal without any awkward pauses or having to search for things to say. He wanted them to like him, he really, really, _really_ did

_Stop it. Stop crying. You're not a baby._

It wasn't fair.

He took several more deep breaths and splashed water on his face, shocked that no one had come to try to use the bathroom yet. Not that they would have been able to get in because he had locked the door. The water made him feel a bit better. He grabbed another rough napkin and wiped his face, but he was much gentler this time around. It still hurt a bit, but he couldn't very well leave the bathroom with water all over his face or with tearstained cheeks.

Much better. Now he had to just wait a few minutes—without crying again—and wait for the puffiness in his eyes to subside. He leaned against the wall, staring at his reflection and wondering how things had gone from being so good to so bad within one hour. One stupid hour and he felt like he'd felt when he was fifteen, his dad standing over him and glaring, yelling for him to not be such a girl and stand up after the man had pushed him down.

_No._

_No. You are not going to think about Dad right now. No._

He threw the napkin in the trash and, looking down, made his way back to the table. Their food was already sitting there but Kurt stared out the window, not touching it.

Blaine spooned pasta into his mouth, just for an excuse to not look at or speak to Kurt. And partially so the sob he felt rising in his throat wouldn't surface. The pasta was cold, disgusting really, but he forced it all down.

Kurt glanced at Blaine's plate a few minutes later, his own still untouched, and sat up straight. "Good. Can we go?"

"Fine." He whispered, standing. He went on to the car and started it, leaving Kurt to pay alone. When Kurt got into the car he glared. "Great, what's _your_ problem?"

Blaine didn't say anything. He just backed out and left the parking lot.

"No, really. What? I didn't _do_ anything."

_You make me, feel like I'm living a tee-nage-dream, the way you—_

"You don't even have an excuse to be acting like this."

_Turn me on. I can't sleep. Let's—_

"Blaine!"

"What? What do you want, Kurt? What?"

Kurt's eyes widened and he fell silent, looking down at his hands. The rest of the ride home neither boy spoke. The car hadn't even been completely in park when Kurt got out, slammed the door, and ran into the house. Blaine followed soon after, taking a deep breath. He just had to make it to the guest room and he could lock the door and cry. Only Carole was in the kitchen and she saw the tears in his eyes.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

He shook his head.

"Hon?"

"I'm f-fine."

She rushed forward and pulled him out of the house as his lip began to tremble. "No, you are not. What's wrong, hon?"

"N-nothing." His voice came out rather high pitched.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug the way Blaine imagined she would hug Finn when he was upset. "Oh, sweetie… shh." She tightened her grip when his shoulders began to shake. "Shh, it's okay. I know Kurt can he hard to handle sometimes. Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"N-n-no!"

"Okay, okay. Shh." She eased the two of them into a sitting position on the porch steps and rocked him. "It's okay. You're okay, Blaine."

He began to cry even harder, feeling like a baby. Why hadn't his mom ever done this? Why was some woman he'd only known a little over a year comforting and caring for him better than his own mother ever had? She did not loosen her grip until his sobs subsided and then she just put her hand on his back and rubbed it soothingly.

"There, there." She whispered. "Are we a little better?"

He let out a watery hiccup and nodded, taking a deep breath. "W-What happened?" He needed a distraction. At this point he didn't care what it was, either. Just something. Anything.

Carole ran her fingers through his hair in a soothing way and sighed. "Apparently Burt didn't handle Paige being gay that well and told his dad when they were in high school. They didn't accept her at first… The parents came around but Burt didn't. He told a lot of his friends, so Paige ended up being bullied at school a lot. It doesn't sound like… it doesn't sound like Burt treated his sister very well until he got married. I think this has been a fight twenty years in the making."

Blaine watery hiccuped again and wiped his eyes. "So she came to s-start a fight?"

"It sounds like Taylor proposed and Paige turned her down because… I don't pretend to know about the gay marriage thing, Blaine. I've never understood it all. But it _sounds_ like Paige said she didn't want to get married unless she had the same rights as everyone else… Taylor told her that it wasn't going to happen, at least not in the next ten years, and that she was tired of waiting for a miracle… Paige told her no, that she wasn't going to marry her until it was fair… and Taylor said that if Paige wasn't willing to marry her, then they were done. Paige left and showed up at their mother and father's place in the middle of the night… Taylor is really close to Kurt, so they were coming to break the news to him and wanted Burt here in case he got upset… and obviously it turned out…" she waved her free hand a bit and sighed. "I'm sorry she was rude to you, sweetheart. You didn't deserve that all and I'm sure she will apologize. Are you okay?"

He bit his lip and nodded, although he didn't really feel okay.

She squeezed his shoulder and ruffled his hair. "Just let me know if you want to talk. I'm very good at listening. You can always talk to Burt too. He adores you, Blaine. No matter what Paige said. He loves you just like he loves Finn. He has the utmost respect for you and… and he talks about it a lot. I wouldn't make that up."

Blaine gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Thanks."

"Anytime, sweetheart."

* * *

"I'm sure he didn't mean it that way." David said through a mouthful of ice cream. "He was a bitch when you thought you might be bi."

"And when you wore that mismatched outfit that one time." Wes said through the computer screen. He was eating a slice of mushroom pizza and drinking directly out of a Dr. Pepper 2 liter while taking to his friends over Skype. "He's always been very…"

"Bitchy?" Blaine muttered, spraying some whipped cream into his mouth.

"The word I think Wes was going for was dramatic." David offered. "Dude, Wes, get your ass back to Ohio. That way you, Blaine, and I can do stuff on the weekends."

"Right. Let me leave UCLA and the amazing California to hang out with you losers." Wes threw his pizza at the screen. "Oh, crap. That is the third time I've done that. Technology is really addling my brain. Last week it was a soda though. Dad wasn't too pleased he had to send me money for another laptop."

David had fallen over sideways laughing. Blaine snorted a bit, but his smile didn't really reach his eyes.

"Blaine, that was _funny_!"

"Yeah, Blaine. Besides, you had to know being gay you were going to get a boyfriend that you'd have dumb arguments with. It's in the gay handbook" David chuckled.

Blaine's eyebrow shot up. "How do _you_ know what's in the gay handbook, David?"

"You two weren't experimenting or something were you? That is _gross_ , guys. Jut gross!" Wes exclaimed.

"Hey," David said loudly. "If I wanted to be gay—which I don't, and don't launch into your whole 'You don't _choose_ to be gay thing' Blaine, but if I chose to be gay—stop with that look, Anderson—It would not be _gross_. It would be very sexy. Because I am sexy."

"Speaking of sexy—Blaine looks like he's going to kill you, David. Or spray you with that whipped cream. You'd better look out— how's that little slut you're dating?"

Blaine held up the whipped cream can like he was going to spray David, but at the last minute turned it to his mouth and sprayed some in, shooting David a look that clearly said, "We are going to talk about gay being a choice later and don't think I'll forget it."

"That slut wants nothing but sex. It's completely exhausting. If Blaine hadn't burst in hysterically—"

Blaine scoffed. "I wasn't _hysterical_."

"Yes. He was. Anyway, if he hadn't burst in hysterically—spray that on me again and I will make you sleep on the floor, Blaine— we'd be in some very interesting and painful positions."

"Can we not talk about how much sex you're getting? The closest I've come in four weeks was ruined by Kurt's grandmother and drunk aunt bursting in the house."

"Pat his head for me, David." Wes said, gesturing as though he was patting Blaine's head. "It's okay. I'm not getting any sex either, Blaine. Apparently I'm too obnoxious to date. Or something along those lines. It's okay, though. Half of the girls up here are orange anyway."

David rolled his eyes as Blaine threw himself onto the bed dramatically. "Wesley, this whole cheering him up separately with you via computer is not working. We aren't in our element unless we're together."

"Maybe we should sing Katy Perry? I'd suggest _I Kissed a Girl_ , but he makes that face every time I try. Aw, damn. I've got to go. Can I Skype you all again in a little bit? My roommate wants to fuck his girlfriend and the internet doesn't work in the common areas."

Blaine cringed. "I just barfed in my mouth a little."

"You'd really barf if you saw her." Wes muttered before shutting off the camera.

David closed his laptop and set it on the floor. "That didn't help at all, did it?"

The shorter boy shook his head sadly. "David, do you think I'm a whore?"

His black friend sighed and scooted closer to him, then spoke gently. "Of course not, Blaine. I'm sure most high school boys have a lot more sex than that… and, for the record, I really don't think that Kurt was making a stab at that. I think it was more of a stab at his dad, he just… didn't think and executed it very poorly. I don't think he meant to hurt your feelings or make you cry."

"I know he didn't mean to… but he can be so selfish and insensitive sometimes." He pulled himself into a sitting position. "I just… don't know, David. I really just don't know."

David sighed again. "Blaine, he loves you and you love him. You're both going through stressful stuff right now. To be honest, I think you're lying to yourself. I think you're extremely upset over what happened with your parents and you're trying to not talk about it because Kurt needs you. And I get that, okay, he does. But you've got some stuff that _you_ need to talk about too. I wish you'd talk to Wes or I about it. You keep stuff in until it explodes and everything crashes down around you. It's not healthy."

Blaine leaned over, resting his head on David's shoulder. "I miss you and Wes…"

"I miss you too. Life isn't as fun without Dapper Blaine… and especially without Un-Dapper Blaine." David laughed. "I'm only two hours away. We should do stuff more. On the weekends, when we don't have school and stuff. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to not spend _every_ minute with Kurt."

The shorter boy nodded, biting his lip. "Did I over react?"

David pursed his lips and then shook his head. "I don't think you over reacted. I think that you finally hit a breaking point. And I think if you don't relax, it will only get worse. Look at what you've gone through. Kurt almost died in October and in November. Your parents essentially cut you off, you don't talk to your brother. You've got a crazy dog that is worse than a toddler behavior wise, you're away from the school you love which could potentially set you back a semester. Meanwhile, you're about to move out with Kurt and said boyfriend just found out his attackers have been caught so he might have to testify. Again, said boyfriend is freaking out which always leads to you mentally freaking out. Then some drunk bitch waltzes in, is rude to you, and you and Kurt get into an argument. Right when you're in the midst of panicking about moving out with your lover boy and making the next statement of commitment. Not to mention you were both very horny and grumpy because you had no way to fix it."

That last bit was definitely true. Blaine stared ahead, chewing on his lip. "I'm afraid, David."

David ruffled his friend's hair and sighed. "Stay the night. I've got classes tomorrow and you can just chill and watch TV. I mean, you can stay as long as you'd like. I don't have any roommates or anything. You know I don't care. But at least stay tonight, get a good night's sleep, and think on things tomorrow. Don't text or call Kurt. I know it may be mean not answering his calls and texts, but I already texted him and told you that you were here safe. I think tonight you need to focus on Blaine."

"Blaine is such a hard person to focus on." Blaine sighed, cuddling up to his friend.

David snorted and just ruffled his hair, mumbling, "You'll be fine, Blaine. I promise."

_ **Part Two** _

"You missed Valentine's Day."

"I know."

"You missed his brother's birthday.""

He felt bad about that one, but he _had_ called Finn at least. "I know."

"You have been driving back and forth, 2 hours to and from, to your classes for _three weeks_ , Blaine."

Blaine tucked his feet underneath him. David had that look that his therapist father would wear when he questioned Blaine about his family, so it was obvious this conversation would not be over any time soon. "So?"

" _So,_ Blaine, I'm not even completely sure if you and Kurt are still dating or not."

Blaine said nothing, suddenly very intrigued by a loose thread in his sweater.

"Well have you even talked to him?"

"He's talked. Or tried to. I haven't really listened."

"He's just trying to apologize, Blaine…"

"If it wasn't for Wes running his big mouth, he wouldn't even know what he was apologizing for." Blaine muttered darkly, frowning.

"Someone had to talk to him. You keep hanging up on him or not answering. It's like you're not even making an effort to… talk to him and f—"

"Why would I _want_ to talk to him, David?" he stood. "He left me in a bathroom crying for hours."

"That," David pointed an accusatory finger at him as he followed him into the kitchen. "Is a huge exaggeration, Anderson."

Blaine threw open the refrigerator door, yanked out a can of whipped cream, and muttered that he was going to finish the whole thing off anyway as he tossed the lid into the trash (he made it in the can on his first time, too, just so you know). "He's living in this little shiny rainbow bubble, David. He's got this _perfect_ family. His dad is probably the smartest man and the greatest parent you could ever meet and, according to Finn, Kurt has refused to talk to him for three weeks! And Carole is the sweetest woman ever. Do you know she calls me every other day on her lunch to catch up? And I bet he's sitting their manipulating the poor woman into feeling sorry for him. You know why?"

David hopped on the counter. He was used to these long winded Kurt rants in the kitchen by now. They always ended in his friend throwing himself on the couch miserably and seeing just how much whipped cream he could get into his mouth without choking. "Why's that?" he asked. It was easier to just go along with it; otherwise Blaine hounded him until he did.

"Because he's got a _black soul_." He gestured wildly and squirted more whipped cream into his mouth.

"Oh my god, Blaine, he does not have a black soul. You've lost your mind. I think you need a nap. I don't think you're sleeping enough."

"He does! He does! He thinks he's all cute because he's _half an inch_ taller than me. You know what, I could still grow! And-and-and he's so cute with his _perfect_ hair and his _bright blue eyes_ and his _porcelain skin_. Well anyone would be that soft if they bathed themselves in butter which is basically what he spends two hours doing _every single night_!"

"Lemme have that whipped cream, you're going to choke and die if you keep doing that while you talk."

"No, it's _mine_." Blaine stepped out of arm's reach. "I _love_ it. Do you know what I don't love, David? _Kurt._ I _hate_ him."

"If you hated him, Blaine, you would have broken up with him three weeks ago. Not sat on my couch going through twenty cans of whipped cream a day." David pointed out, reaching for it again.

He squirted more into his mouth and gestured wildly again. "Oh my god! Oh my god! David, he's _Rachel_! He is totally Rachel! He is _so_ Rachel and I _haaate_ her!"

"Rachel?"

The scowl on Blaine's face was not attractive at all. "Rachel _Berry._ She's pure evil, David. She is a worse attention whore than I am."

"That must be pretty bad." David muttered.

"Ugh, her voice is like nails on a chalk board." Blaine shuddered. "Yes, he is Rachel. He thinks he can do _whatever_ he _damn well_ pleases. And he can just _push_ me over—" he thrust his hand out to his side, "yank out my heart—" he grabbed at his chest, "and ruin. My. Life."

David hopped up quickly and wrestled the whipped cream from him. "Blaine, I love you and all, but you're starting to sound a little crazy."

"Give me that back, David. I need it. To survive."

"What you need to do is call your boyfriend." His friend said firmly. "If you are going to break up with him, fine. If you are going to stay with him, fine. But you can't hide in my house watching Dancing With the Stars and crying because the hot redhead got voted off forever. Because we know you're somehow equating that redhead with Kurt, although his hair isn't even that red."

"But he's Rachel."

"If I give this back to you, will you go and call him?"

"No."

David let out a sigh. "Do you really want me to have Wes fly out here? I don't think either of us _really_ want that, but if that is what I have to do, I will."

Blaine did not answer, just continued to reach for the whipped cream which David was holding behind him.

"Blaine, this is getting awkward. Your pelvis is right by mine and—oh my god, take it! Take it!" he thrust the whipped cream out. "You've lost your mind. I can't believe you just did that, Blaine."

"I wanted my whipped cream." Blaine made a 'hmph' noise and left the room.

David pulled out his phone and texted Wes.

_Yeah. We're going to have to pull out the big kid plan now. He's somehow convinced himself that Kurt is that annoying lead soloist girl from New Directions._

He pushed send, and then opened another message.

_And he totally grabbed my ass._

* * *

"I don't like this, I don't like it. Put me down, Wes. Just because you are a giant does not mean you can—subject—me—to—this!"

"This is for your own good, Blaine. You seriously grabbed his ass? I'm considering not even taking you to Lima, but to a mental institution to be checked out."

Blaine put his hands on either side of the car door frame. "I won't go in, I won't go. No. I don't want to see him. He's Rachel Berry."

"He's not Rachel Berry, you dolt. You're still so sleep deprived that you probably think you're Princess Ariel or something."

"I'd be a much better Belle, thank you." Blaine said, distractedly. "I like to read."

Wes took the opportunity, grabbed his head, and forced him into the car. "COME ON, DAVID, HURRY! HE'S IN THE CAR! I REPEAT, HE IS IN THE CAR!"

"I liked you better with your gavel!" Blaine yelled through the closed door, banging on the window.

"If you break my window, Anderson, I will break you." David got into the car.

"You all are no longer my best friends."

"You can't avoid this forever, bro. I know your hearts sore or whatever it is that gay boys feel, but it's getting a little unbearable." Wes chirped as he climbed into the back seat.

"Yeah and my sympathy went out the window when you grabbed my ass."

"I was trying to distract you." Blaine growled.

"Grow up, Blaine." David said, starting the car.

"What about _my_ car?"

"We don't trust you to stay. We're keeping it a week so you have nowhere else to go." Wes said cheerfully. "Nowhere but into the arms of your beloved Kurt Hummel." He leaned forward, hooked his iPod into the car, and began fiddling with it. "Now shut up, listen to the other love of your life, and _stay_ shut up until we get back to Lima."

Blaine just glared daggers through the mirror as Teenage Dream began to play.

* * *

"You can't just walk into a house without knocking, Wesley. It's rude!" David hissed.

"Blaine lives here, it's okay—hello! You don't know me, but we've found something that you lost. And, frankly, he's driving my friend David here crazy with his moping and sulking. Is Kurt around?"

"If not, we'll wait." David added.

Finn blinked at Wes and David, and then looked at Blaine. "Hey, dude."

Blaine just scowled at his friends.

"Blaine, where are your manners?" Wes gave Finn what was supposed to be a sweet smile. It really came out looking rather demented. "You're tall friend said hello."

"Hi, Finn." Blaine said through gritted teeth.

And then _he_ walked downstairs, talking on the phone and looking possibly as miserable as Blaine had ever seen him look. Then his eyes widened and he said, "I've got to go, Mercedes. I'll call you back later. No, everything is okay. Bye."

"This is going to be very awkward." David sighed. "Hey, Kurt."

"Hi, David." Kurt said softly, but his eyes did not leave Blaine. Blaine, however, refused to look at him. "Hi, Wes."

"Belle here wondered all the way to Cinci and we thought we'd bring the stray home. He's been very polite and all, he's just eating David out of house and home." Wes ruffled Blaine's curls, prompting an even darker glare. "I can't promise he won't bite, though."

"Wes, you're making this worse." David nudged him and pried his hands off of Blaine. "We're kind of calling an intervention here. Well, what he said about my food is true too, though… but he misses you. Even if he won't say it."

"He looks like you grabbed him out of bed and shoved him in the car." Kurt said meekly.

"It was my idea." Wes stood straighter. "It worked very well, too."

"Dude, it's good to see you!" Finn said, picking a very bad moment to chime in. "We've still got some cake if you want some. It's pretty good, still. Kurt's excellent at baking and—"

Kurt held up a hand, similar to the way Blaine did with David. "I don't think Blaine wants cake right now, Finn."

"I'd love some! Is it chocolate?" Both Kurt and Blaine stared at David. "Nevermind."

"Come on." Finn waved his hand. "It's totally amazing. Kurt makes the best cakes _ever_."

As David walked to Finn, he roughly grabbed Wes by the arm and tugged him. "But I want to see them kiss and make up." He whined, voice becoming fainter as they left.

Kurt walked towards Blaine, stopping a few feet away from him. "I'm sorry."

Blaine still refused to look at him. If he looked at him, he would become less mad. Because as much as he hated to admit it, David was right. He really missed Kurt and it would have been so easy to just throw his arms around his boyfriend, kiss him, and pretend everything was okay.

"Blaine, I'm really sorry. I've… I…" Kurt made a clicking noise with his tongue and sighed softly. "You're not listening."

"I'm listening." The shorter boy muttered, eyes glued to the clock on the opposite wall from him.

"You… haven't been answering my calls. I almost thought… that…" Kurt trailed off and made the noise again. "I don't want to argue, Blaine. I… I've missed you."

Blaine looked down at his shoes, sighing. "You hurt my feelings. You always hurt my feelings when you're upset and it's not fair to take stuff out on me… I didn't break up your aunts. And you completely disregarded your aunt being rude to me when I was trying to _protect_ you."

"She was drunk, Blaine. I didn't think you'd take anything she said seriously!" Kurt said desperately. "I never thought it would have upset you. And Wes said you were in the bathroom crying? I didn't _know_ , Blaine. I didn't mean to upset you with what I said about AIDS, okay? I wasn't even _thinking_ about your past. That never crossed my mind. If I had thought it would have upset you I _never_ would have said that. It wasn't anything at you, it was at my dad."

"You spend so much time thinking about yourself that you couldn't tell I was upset. Or could you tell, but you just didn't care?"

"Blaine," Kurt whimpered. "You know that isn't true."

Blaine finally met his eyes and he could tell they were teary. "I've done _so_ much for you, Kurt. Ever since the day I met you. I'm beginning to think you don't even care."

"No! That's not true!" he whimpered again. "Please, don't say that. I do care."

"How come every time you're mad you conveniently throw stuff I've done in my face?" the older boy asked angrily.

"I didn't mean to, Blaine! A lot has been going on! I didn't _mean_ to!"

"That's not an excuse, Kurt! Grow up a little! Grow up!"

"I'm trying, okay? I'm trying to grow up but e-everything is so messed up right now and—."

"Then don't take it out on me! Not when I'm the one you would wake up in the middle of the night when you couldn't breathe to get you water! Not when I'm the one who drove four freaking hours in the middle of the night to the hospital, or when I'm the one who held you when you cried, who _took care of you_! Don't take it out on _me_!"

"I'm sorry, Blaine! I'm sorry! I was stupid!"

Blaine glared out the window.

"I'm so sorry. I just… please… Blaine, don't… I… _I'm sorry_. I don't know how to make it right. Tell me how to make it right." He ducked his head when his boyfriend didn't answer. "Bl-Blaine… please… c-can I hug you?"

Blaine sighed in a resigned sort of way.

Kurt took it as a yes—or an I don't care, as it may have been—and wrapped his arms around Blaine. Blaine stood stiffly, not allowing himself to relax in Kurt's arms. Kurt gave up after a few seconds, letting his arms fall at his sides.

"I can't do this right now." Blaine moved past him and went into the kitchen. "Can we leave now, David?"

Davis looked up from his cake, a look of complete shock on his face. "Leave?"

"I would like to leave." He repeated calmly, although he felt like crying.

"Dude, why don't you stay? What even happened between you two?" Finn asked, standing. "No one ever tells me anything."

"I don't want to talk about it." Blaine looked away.

"Well I do. He's been hiding in his room for three weeks. What did you—."

"He didn't do anything." Kurt said loudly, coming in. "I did. I'm the one who did this, not Blaine. So leave him alone, Finn. Let… let him go."

Wes slowly stood up. "It was nice to meet you, Finn. I'll see you later, Kurt."

"I don't understand. He's supposed to _stay_." David sighed, standing.

"Blaine… what…" Finn went up to him.

"Take care of him, alright?" Blaine muttered and moved past Burt, who had walked in, and left the house.

"I don't like this." Finn said, looking at Wes and David.

"Thanks for the cake." David said and dragged Wes out, muttering, "What do we do _now_?"

Burt, Kurt, and Finn all stood in the hallway silently. Burt looked Kurt over a few times, glanced at the doorway, and, after he heard the front door close again, spoke. "We are talking. Right now."

"I have nothing to say to you."

Finn grabbed his cake and left quickly.

"You will sit down and we are going to talk."

"I have stuff to do."

"Sit. Down."

Kurt stared at his father for several seconds, determining if he wanted to continue to protest, but eventually noisily pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down. His father didn't sit. That always meant big trouble. This wasn't going to be fun.

"I want to know what you did to that boy." Burt said slowly.

"I want to know what you did to Aunt Paige."

Burt eyed him for several seconds, looking madder each second. "There will come a day, Kurt, that I will tell you everything. But you can bet it will be on _my_ terms. Not yours and definitely not Paige's."

"Did you watch them shove her into lockers too, Dad?" Kurt leaned forward.

"Don't you talk to me that way. I don't know what has gotten into you, Kurt, but I have let you get your way for far too long. I am sorry I tried to overcompensate with gifts because your mother died and I wanted to make you happier however I could, because I do not like what I'm looking at right now. And I damn don't like that you let Blaine walk out that door and didn't go after him. For the second time."

Kurt took a sharp intake of breath. Why had that not occurred to him? It was so simple. Why had he not thought of that?

"What did you do to him?"

"It doesn't concern you, dad."

"Are you two broken up? Is that what I just saw? Are you _really_ selfish enough to tear that boy from his family and then let him walk out that door?"

"I didn't tear him away from anybody!" Kurt shouted.

"When you asked him to not go back to Kentucky, son, that is what you did!" Burt shouted back, finally losing his temper. "With that one sentence you took everything that boy knew and _shattered_ it!"

Kurt quickly looked away, tears filling his eyes.

"Have I really not raised you better than this? _What did you do?_ If you tore that boy away from his family, Kurt, and he doesn't come back here, where will he go? What will he do? You were all he had! You were all he had He had _you_! He left _everything_ for _you_!"

Kurt didn't speak, feeling smaller and smaller with every word his dad shouted. The tears spilled over, sliding down his cheeks.

"If it is over between you two, Kurt… I just… I'm disgusted. Did you two just break up? Did you? Please tell me, son, that you did not… I can't even look at you right now." Burt went over and stared out the back door angrily. "Did it ever cross your mind what he gave up? Did it once?"

"Yes!" Kurt's voice shook.

"What?"

"What do you mean, what?"

"What did he give up?"

"His family was awful to him, dad! They didn't deserve him!"

"Did they put a roof over his head?" Kurt didn't answer. "Did he ever go to bed hungry? Did he ever once not have a phone to call you on?"

"He's still got a phone. He's staying with David."

"Kurt! I can't believe you! Are you this sheltered from the world around you, son? Are you?" Burt faced him again. "He doesn't have a _home_ now, Kurt. He doesn't have a _job_ because he left two to come _take care of you_!"

"David will—."

"IT'S NOT DAVID'S RESPONSIBILITY, KURT! IT'S YOURS!"

"It's not my responsibility! I'm only 18!"

Burt came forward, leaning very close to his son. For a second Kurt thought his father was going to hit him. "You were old enough to ask him to give up _everything_ for you, and you don't think it's _your_ responsibility to take care of him? To make sure he has a roof over his head, that he eats every night, that he has a working phone in case his car dies in the middle of the night and he's stranded on the highway? Or if he gets in a wreck? To make sure that you are as there for him as he is for you? It takes more than holding him when he's sick, Kurt! You have to be there for him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 364 days a year! You can't choose when to care for somebody! You don't put more in one day and less the next because he sure hasn't been doing that to you! The boy didn't sleep for days, sitting by you in the hospital! Nobody, Kurt—Nobody will _ever_ care for you and love you as unconditionally as Blaine did! Nobody else would have seen you lying on that hospital, looking like death, and sat by your side every moment. And you ruined it! You ruined _it_ and now _I_ have to live with the fact that my son may very well have cost that caring boy _everything_. And for what? Nothing!"

Kurt covered his mouth, now sobbing.

"He's gone, Kurt! He's gone."

Kurt stood up, pushed past his dad, threw the chair aside, and ran up to his room. He slammed his door shut and slid down his wall sobbing. Why was it that everything made sense when he looked back? Why was he so stupid? His dad was right. Nobody would ever love him like Blaine, and he had completely… fucked it all up. How had he let this happen? _How had he let this happen_?

A lot time passed before his door slowly opened. He was still crying, face red. His chest hurt—it _really_ hurt—but he didn't care. He needed to cry because he was terrible, an awful person, and he had ruined the only thing good in his life.

"You okay, dude?"

Kurt looked up at his brother and shook his head, wiping his eyes and nose on the back of his hand.

"I… brought you some milk. It's nonfat." Finn sat by him and held out the glass.

"T-Th-thanks." Kurt took it and set it on the floor next to him, pulling his knees up to his chest. "I-I-I m-messed up, F-Finn. I r-really messed it u-up."

"It'll be okay." Finn reached over and wrapped an arm around Kurt. "You'll find someone else."

Kurt let out a loud anguished sob, burying his face in his hands. He didn't want anybody else. He wanted _Blaine_.

"I… mean…" Finn looked down guiltily. "I don't know what to say, dude…. I'm sorry."

Kurt just sobbed into his hands, shoulders shaking.

"Kurt, don't cry…" Finn pulled him closer, resting Kurt's head on his shoulder. "It's okay. You'll be okay…"

"I w-w-wanna s-start over." Kurt sobbed into his shoulder, voice muffled.

"Things can always be fixed… look at me and Rach. We've gotten together like four times now."

"He _hates_ m-me." Kurt looked up at him. "I m-messed up, F-Finn. I m-messed up."

"He seems like an understanding enough guy, Kurt. I'm sure if you talk to him-."

"I t-tried. S-So many times. I d-d-don't know what to do anymore. Finn, I don't know w-what to do."

Finn bit his lip and just stared ahead, looking confused.

"It's hopeless. It's hopeless." Kurt pulled out of Finn's hug and stood, taking several deep breaths which prompted several more coughs. "I can't be-believe I r-ruined i-it. _He's gone_."

"It just needs a little bandaid is all." Finn said quietly, in an attempt to make him feel better.

"A giant bandaid. Of epic proportions." he sniffled loudly and coughed. "Thanks, F-Finn."

"You're welcome, little bro." Finn moved to sit next to him on the bed, wrapping an arm around him again. "Give him some cool down time and try to talk to him again."

"It's been three weeks." He sniffled again. "I don't think he wants to talk to me."

"But he talked to you for a little bit today, didn't he? That's something, dude."

"I guess… I hope."

* * *

"I know you don't want to see me, Blaine… but…"

Blaine had walked up to his car after class two days later. Kurt's Navigator was parked next to his BMW but Kurt was sitting on the sidewalk, peering up at him. He stood and wiped his hands on his pants, taking a deep breath. It was very evident he was nervous and had mustered some real courage to get him there.

"But you've got to hear me out because… because I figured it out, Blaine. A-And I want you to come home, please. I'm _here_. I came to you. And I'm asking you to come home. Please."

Blaine blinked at him, readjusting his backpack on his shoulder. Kurt was the last person he'd expected to see. "How did you know where I was?"

"I knew you were on OSU's campus… Finn told me where the buildings that held most of the night classes were and I… went to all the parking lots until I saw your car. Well, really, there was another car just like yours. Over there." He pointed. "But there was a McDonald's bag and Starbucks cup in this one, so…" he trailed off.

"Why are you here?" Blaine didn't know what to think, what to do. Did he miss Kurt? Of course. Had they technically broken up? Well, they hadn't said the words but it had sure felt like a break up. Did that count? If that was the case, had they technically been broken up for weeks?

"Because… because you show up at places and surprise me. And I wanted to surprise you."

"Don't you think it's a little late for that?" He couldn't hide the bitterness in his voice.

"I deserved that." Kurt said softly. "Blaine… I…"

"Why did you come here?"

"Because I wanted to see you. I want you to come home with me." The smaller boy repeated, squinting because of the sun behind Blaine. "I miss you. So, so much."

"Why?"

"Because I feel like part of me is missing." His lip began to tremble. "I _miss_ you because you're you. You're perfect for me. R-remember the porch s-swing and the red door and the two kids?"

Blaine glanced around them. They were getting a few strange looks. Then again, they were standing in the middle of parking lot and Kurt was on the verge of crying in the freezing cold. While Blaine stood completely still, barely even breathing, and not moving to comfort him.

"I k-know I'm selfish sometimes, Blaine. I don't m-mean to be. It's how I've always been. A-and I have a really bad habit of not knowing what I have until it's almost gone. Please don't be gone."

"Kurt, it's not been the same. Not since October. You've been different. You used to be so caring to everyone around you. You used to be so different. And sometimes I can see it in you a-and then something happens and it's just gone. You go back to being insensitive, to saying hurtful things to and about people… you're not fourteen anymore. You don't have the hormone excuse for being a bitch. Now you're just a bitch."

"I deserve that too." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I don't know what I can say besides… besides that I… I love you and I want to take care of you like you take care of me. I c-can't just only be t-there when you need it m-most because maybe i-if I'm open all the time, i-it won't get so bad and y-you won't need t-that kind of comforting."

"Don't cry." Blaine moved forward, putting his hand on his arm. "Don't cry, Kurt."

"P-Please, Blaine. I get it now, okay? I'm a s-s-scared and selfish little boy sometimes. Sometimes I'm not, b-but lately I h-have been. But you c-can't give up on me now. You need me j-just as much as I need you. For so long I just…" he looked up, wiping his eyes again and taking a deep breath. "I just… you were there for me. And I didn't… I just… I'm sorry. I-It's got to be giving and t-taking and I've been taking w-way too much and h-haven't g-given… Blaine, please. Please, come home." Kurt moved forward, not caring. He threw his arms around Blaine's neck and nuzzled him. "We're so good. D-Don't give up on u-us. We don't have to go b-back to how we were but w-we can work on it. I-I'll be better. I need you, Blaine. I need you to be the Blaine to my Kurt. _Come home_."

Blaine let himself relax into Kurt's arms a bit and wrapped his own arms around Kurt's thin waist. "Okay."

Kurt kissed the side of his face repeatedly, clinging to him.

"Things aren't going to just go back to how they were, Kurt."

"That's okay, that's okay. It's a start." Kurt whispered in his ear, hugging him even tighter.

"I feel like we should move…" Blaine commented, realizing they were still getting some odd looks.

The younger boy looked around and sighed softly. He didn't like being at home. It was tense. And he really didn't want to pull away from the hug either because it had been so long since they'd been so close. "I don't want to go home really."

"I'll show you around the main campus then?" Blaine whispered.

"Alright. I'd like that."

They spent two hours walking around, freezing cold. They didn't really talk, but they walked next to each other. Every so often he would point out a building ("That's where Finn's team practices.", "My Wednesday night class is in there.", "That's where we meet for pizza before my Friday class when Finn doesn't come home for the weekends.") For the first hour whenever their hands would brush together they wouldn't pull their hands away. After the first hour, Blaine held his hand out for Kurt to take. Kurt shuffled closer, linking hands with Blaine, and rested his head on his shoulder. It was slightly awkward, but it was something and Kurt would take it. He would take anything to feel a little closer to his boyfriend. He had Blaine back, at least part of him. Blaine took him back.

They were freezing.

Absolutely freezing.

But Kurt didn't want to go back to the cars because he was afraid Blaine would change his mine. That he wouldn't want to come home. Blaine didn't want to go back to the car because he knew once they got home it would be different. Burt and Kurt were not on speaking terms (Carole had told him earlier that morning over her lunch). Finn would already be home with it being a Thursday night, but he didn't know if he was exactly up to chatting either.

It wasn't until Kurt gave a small cough that Blaine finally decided that they needed to go. "We should get home… we'll end up catching pneumonia out here. It's still pretty cold for almost being March."

How weird that Blaine had left right at the beginning of February. On the fifth.

"I guess…" Kurt unlinked their hands as they reached their cars. "Be careful."

Blaine attempted a smile but it didn't quite work that well. "It's a twenty minute drive. I think I'll manage."

Kurt touched his arm, biting his lip and blinking at him with big blue eyes. "I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too, Kurt." The slightly shorter boy leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"These were the worst two days of my life… really the worst month." Kurt whispered. "I have a feeling it's not… over."

"We'll get back to how we were eventually, Kurt… I think we both need to step back and… take a look at ourselves as individuals and as us… and… talk about things."

"Tonight?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"Not tonight."

Kurt looked down and fished out his keys, nodding. He wanted to do it tonight. He wanted to solve everything tonight, wrap a nice little bow around it, and go back to being _them_. As soon as possible. They'd missed out on more than three weeks. Three weeks and three days. "Not tonight." Kurt repeated, although he wanted to jump right back to where they had left off. He also knew, though, that if he pushed Blaine that the boy might leave and not come back. That being the case, Blaine could take as long as he wanted. As long as things were right at some point in the future. Kurt had never had much patience before but he realized, when Blaine leaned over and rested his head on Kurt's shoulder hesitantly, that he would be as patient as it took. Because Blaine was worth every single minute and he wasn't going to mess it up again. Never.

_ **Part Three** _

"I brought you dinner." Kurt came into the bedroom with two plates of pizza in one hand and two cups (one with a soda can unopened inside it) in the other.

"Oh, thanks. I didn't know it was here." Blaine looked up from his laptop and reached for the plates. "I'll take it, go get your water."

Kurt handed him the two plates and the glass with the soda can in it, disappearing into the bathroom with the last cup. Things had been weird between them but not in a necessarily bad way. They didn't talk as much as usual, they didn't share as many looks, but sometimes he would say stuff that made Blaine laugh. Sometimes Blaine would say stuff that made Kurt smile at the older boy and when Blaine smiled back he knew that they'd eventually be okay. It was reassuring.

Blaine was setting his laptop on the floor, leaned over, when Kurt came back into their room. When the older boy sat back upright he nearly put his hand in his pizza. "Well that would have been depressing."

"There would have been plenty more. Carole got three boxes. She figured you'd eat a whole one, and Finn would eat a whole one…"

Blaine snorted and sat cross legged and, after resting his plate on his lap, poured his soda into the cup of ice. "You can't argue with that."

Kurt just gave a weak smile and sat on the edge of his bed, careful to not kick Blaine's laptop or sit his water near it. He wished he could go back to sitting on that laptop, looking at Blaine's pictures, and Blaine trying to tug it out of his hands and laughing. How long would it be before things got normal again? They were not bad, but they weren't good either. It had been awkward. The only thing that had seemed normal over the past four days and three nights were nights. Blaine would lie in bed while Kurt did all of his moisturizing and cleansing. When Kurt would come back into the room, anywhere between fifteen and forty-five minutes deepening on how thorough he chose to be, he would lie in front of Blaine. The older boy would tug him close, keeping an arm around him, so that his head was rested on Blaine's chest. Kurt would then snuggle up, drape an arm around Blaine's waist or chest depending on how far up Kurt's head would rested. Kurt would fall asleep listening to Blaine's heartbeat and Blaine would fall asleep listening to Kurt's soft breathing. _That_ still stayed the same and for the last three days the last six hours of the night before they went to bed seemed to take ages.

Blaine chewed on his pizza in silence, looking at Kurt every few minutes. Kurt ate his slice and sighed quietly. They were sitting so close together on the bed, but Blaine felt so far away from him. It was like the older boy had built up a wall around himself over the last three weeks. Kurt didn't know how to break that wall down, and he didn't know how to deal with it. It was incredibly frustrating. He had childishly thought that after a few hours stuff would just… slowly gravitate back to how they'd been. But then again, Blaine had been gone for _three weeks_. Clearly he was very upset about what happened.

Kurt reached his hand out and touched Blaine's cheek. Blaine's hazel eyes met his blue ones and Kurt gave him a weak smile. "I love you, Blaine."

"I know… I love you too, Kurt." Blaine whispered, turning his face slightly and kissing Kurt's wrist.

They sat that way for a few seconds, Kurt's hand on his face and Blaine leaning his face into Kurt's arm, until there was a very quiet knock on the door partially opened door. Blaine instantly straightened and busied himself with taking a sip of his soda.

"Kurt, I'd like to talk to you alone. When you're done eating." Burt sighed.

"I do—."

Blaine poked him rather hard in his side and gave him a look. Clearly the tension had gotten to Blaine as much as it had to Carole and Finn in the few days he had been home. Well, _fine_. If they were both going to team up against him, Kurt guessed he would have to do it. He may as well have gotten it over anyway. It was really getting rather ridiculous.

" _Fine_. We can talk. I'll finish my food later if Blaine doesn't eat it all."

"I don't like the kind of pizza you like anyway, so no worries there." Blaine said softly, offering him a half smile. "I won't eat it."

Kurt patted his leg gently before getting up and following his dad out of his room, feeling as though he was marching to his death. At the same time, though, he wanted it over. He wanted things to go back to normal because he really did miss his dad. Burt sat at the kitchen table looking extremely stressed out. He rubbed his forehead as Kurt sat down across from him.

"What?"

Burt sighed. "Look, Kurt… I'm sorry that I said the things I said to you the other day. I lost my temper with you and I shouldn't have. Sometime it is just so hard to get things through to you because you're so damn stubborn. That is something you get from me… I was very hard on you, kid… but someone had to say it. I can't sit by and let you ruin something as amazing as you and Blaine just because you're too young to see how special it is yet. Because it's real special, Kurt."

The last thing he expected was an apology from his father because, frankly, he didn't deserve it. Kurt just looked away, feeling his stomach knot up. He was trying to forget all of the horrible, yet also true, things that his father had said. Some of them may have been slightly exaggerated—no. His father had been spot on. He had to admit it; otherwise, he wouldn't accept it and change.

"I'm your father. I'm always going to be here for you, kid. But part of my job is to teach you lessons so you can be a better man. And I'm not going to not say something to you because it'll hurt your feelings. Those things are usually the things that are the most important. It's my job to… to tell you the good and the bad. I can't sugarcoat everything for you anymore. You're not a little boy, Kurt. In four months you'll be moving out on your own and that doesn't leave me a whole lot of time to make sure you're _ready_. There's no time to tiptoe around stuff anymore, son. You're an adult now. As hard as it may be for you—and for me—to admit. And this stuff with Blaine, you've got to work _damn_ hard at it. Because _both_ of you have to take care of _each other_ soon. There won't be any _I'm only 18_ s. There will be you and him down in Cincinnati alone. You've got to be grown up enough to do that. There's stuff you've _got_ to know."

Kurt bit his lip, listening very carefully. He knew he still had a lot of growing up to do. He knew there was stuff he still needed to learn, to _get_ , before he moved out of the house.

"I love you, Kurt. No one will ever love you the way that I have or the way that your mother did. Your mother would have handled our conversation a few nights ago much better than me… she always handled this kind of stuff better. But unfortunately I'm what you're left with. I'm not great, son, but I try."

"I know, dad." He said softly.

"You have taught me so much about what it means to be a man, Kurt. You are so strong and so brave. The things that you have to deal with every day. How you can go out on dates with Blaine in _Lima, Ohio_ and still hold his hand. That takes real courage."

It didn't take courage. It was what was natural to him. When they walked around, it was like there was a magnetic pull between their hands. They didn't care what people said or thought. They _needed_ to be close to each other in some way and, in many ways, holding hands with Blaine meant even more than sex did. Holding hands was much more of an emotional bond. Sex was lovely, it really was. But it was more of a physical need.

"I've got to talk to you about your Aunt Paige, Kurt… about what I did. But you've got to know that never, for one minute, did I ever not accept you. You're my son and I would never think the things about you that I said and thought about her twenty years ago. You've got to know that first because it's important. I have always accepted you and loved you, Kurt. That will _never_ change."

Kurt briefly met his father's eyes and nodded. He was not going to like this conversation very much. At the same time, though, he felt like it was one he needed to hear.

"I'm a different person now, Kurt. You… you taught me a lot. Even before I knew you were gay… just being your father and loving something so unconditionally taught me a lot. Because when you were born and Elizabeth and I didn't know if you were going to make it… nothing like _this_ mattered. You were our son and we just—we wanted you healthy and that's all. We wanted you healthy and to bring you home and to love you unconditionally. That's what we did. Your mother was better at it than me and she… she did help me see that I couldn't try to make you join those sports clubs and stuff, but I only did that because I wanted you to make friends. I wanted you to be happy."

"I know, dad…" Kurt repeated.

"Kurt, when I was fourteen I came home from football practice and… I saw your Aunt Paige on the couch with a girl… they were kissing. Paige had a boyfriend at the time—that's what she told us at least. I walked in and she was just kissing this girl."

He looked back up at his father. "And what did you do?"

"Her boyfriend was on the soccer team and we had mutual friends… I got his address from one of them and I went and… told him." Burt stood and crossed the room, going to the sink. He stared out the window as he spoke. "Paige didn't know I'd seen her. She had no idea, neither of them did, that I had seen them. Your aunt was a junior and the girl she was kissing, her name was Sarah and she was a senior and a cheerleader—who was dating someone else on the football team. You have to understand, Kurt, that it was _Lima, Ohio_ and you just didn't _do_ that. I had never even _seen_ a gay person before. On the football team we'd go around calling people faggots for not playing hard enough, we'd make fun of being gay. And to find out that my own _sister_ was one? My older sister who was _everybody's_ favorite was… a _dyke_? I was disgusted."

Kurt flinched, scooting all the way back in his chair and quickly looking away from his father, whom he had watched even as he went to the sink. Those words did not fit in his father's mouth. That was like whenever Blaine, always dapper, got angry and said curse words.

Burt took a deep breath, still staring out the window and now looking angry. "I was pissed, Kurt. I was fourteen, trying to be popular, on the football team. What she was doing was _wrong_ and all I saw was my popularity rushing down the drain. I was stupid, Kurt. I was stupid. "

"What happened?" Maybe Kurt didn't want to know, though, really. His stomach was twisted in all kinds of knots still, only it was getting worse, and he felt very anxious.

"That night I went home and… and I didn't say anything. I just went to my room. Paige had no idea when she walked into school the next morning… but you know how fast word travels at McKinley. People pushed her around and called her those names that they call you." He sighed heavily. "The girl Sarah got it worse. Paige's boyfriend's name was Chad and Sarah dated Chad's best friend, who was on the football team. Sarah's best friend, who dated another one of Chad's friends, took it really bad and she cut off Sarah's hair and… the cheerleaders roughed her up pretty bad. She left that day before lunch and she never came back…" he shook his head, turning around and facing his son. "I don't think Paige even saw her again after that."

Kurt promptly looked away again, not able to handle seeing his dad. He was _not_ hearing this. Not from his father, who had stormed down to McKinley _countless_ times on his behalf. His father had _not_ caused that to happen to someone. There was _no way._ But suddenly he thought back. Was Burt _really_ avoiding his grandmother when he refused to let him go see _The Sound of Music_ with his aunts? Was this why had Burt been so quick to leave whenever they drove to see Taylor and Paige, whether it be a birthday party or Christmas dinner? Was this why the siblings never hugged each other before they left? Why Taylor had constantly played a much bigger role in his life than his own biological aunt, because his aunt was jealous of how well Burt treated him when he'd done awful things to her? Now, his aunt Paige had _never_ been rude to him. She bought him nice gifts, took him out, and had chats with him on the phone. But Taylor had been the first one to have a chat with him about being gay, when he was thirteen. Taylor offered to buy him books about coming out to his father, she offered to buy him books about sex (he always turned those down, obviously), she constantly checked on him to make sure he was dealing with everything okay. There were _constant_ texts and phone calls from Taylor checking up on him, even to this day. Well, there had been until Paige's visit.

Burt, who had turned to face Kurt and fallen silent, began to speak again. "Paige caught on real quick that I… that I had caused it. She's real smart, you know. She _always_ has been way too smart and way too loud mouthed for her own good. She cornered me in the hallway and shouted at me, saying she _knew_ that I had done this, that I had forced…" he sighed, as if it was getting harder to talk. "That I had forced that girl out of school with what I said and that I had rui… ruined her life. That Sarah would have nowhere to go because with her hair gone she'd have to tell her parents what had _really_ happened and that… that her parents would kick her out."

Kurt glanced up, meeting his father's eyes, and then looked away again.

"I pushed her. I pushed Paige and shouted that yes, I had done it, and that I was… glad that I'd done it. And that what she was doing was… was wrong and that she was going to hell for her sins. I pushed my own sister and shouted that and anyone in the school who didn't know sure knew after that."

Kurt took a deep breath. He couldn't decide whether to be angry or sad. All he knew was that he'd just lost almost all of the respect he'd ever had for his father. He spoke slowly. "And what did you do then?"

"Kurt, isn't that enough?"

" _What did you do then_?"

"I went home from school and I told Dad."

Kurt covered his face with his hands. That was the _worst_ thing Burt could have done, going to his father.

"Dad was _furious_ , Kurt. You know how Christian he is. He packed up some of her things and kicked Paige out when walked through the door. She went to stay with this girl that she knew from work. Mom called her after a few days and she… came home. She came home and mom adjusted. Dad eventually adjusted. I… didn't. I just couldn't. I could not deal with the fact that my _sister_ was _that way_." He took a deep breath. "Mom was so mad at me after the shock wore off. She told me I was a terrible brother for what I did to her and I don't think Dad has ever fully forgiven me. School continued to be awful for her for… well, for the rest of high school. The first few weeks were the worst, but she… she always came home with bruises and a split lip or a bloody nose. That… didn't go away. And I wasn't… I didn't accept it, Kurt. Paige and I basically pretended the other one didn't exist. We never talked, not at dinner. I didn't even go to her highs school graduation. I… I let my friends do that to her. I never once stood up for her. In fact, I thought she deserved everything that she got."

Kurt didn't look up from his hands. He wanted to cry, he really wanted to cry. He was trying very hard not to.

"I almost lost your mother over it. We met my sophomore year, when Paige was a senior. Liz always stood up for Paige. They became good friends after we started dating. She didn't really know anything about Liz because she transferred to McKinley in the middle of our sophomore year. I don't know why she even stayed with me after she found out all of the horrible things that I did to Paige and that I let other people do to… It caused a lot of fights. We broke up once or twice over it… I'm sorry, Kurt. If I could take any of the things I did back, I would. I… was hoping you wouldn't find out. That's why I wanted Blaine to get you out of there, because… because I don't want you to feel like you can't come to me, kid. I don't want you to hate me for what I did. I'm a completely different person, Kurt. I was a kid back then… I did some terrible things, but that's not me now. I haven't been that way for a very, very, very, _very_ long time."

"You _ruined_ that girl's life, dad." Kurt said slowly.

"And do you think I don't feel bad about it every day? Do you think I have not thought of that every time you've come home, upset, or with a bruise on your shoulder from getting slammed into a locker?"

"You tried to ruin Aunt Paige's life. She's your _sister_."

"Kurt—"

"Is that why I couldn't go stay with them over the summers?" he finally met his father's eyes. "Is that why we never go to the family reunions when they're at her house? Did you know Aunt Taylor back then? Did you do that to her too?"

"Your Aunt Taylor… They got together right after Paige got out of high school, maybe even a little before that. They broke up shortly after you were born and got back together when you were three. But, no. I didn't know your Aunt Taylor when I was in high school and I didn't see your Aunt Paige, apart from Christmases, until you were born."

"So did you judge her too, then? When they met, did you think that they were going to go to hell? When you heard they were dating?"

"Kurt…" Burt sighed and massaged his forehead.

"Answer me!"

"Yes. Yes, I thought they were going to go to hell."

Kurt let out a noise between a scoff and a groan, looking away. His jaw clenched. "So do you think that Blaine and I are going to go to hell? Do you think that I don't deserve to get married and have kids? Or that I shouldn't have the same rights as you and mom did? Or you and Carole?"

"I want those things for you, Kurt." His father said firmly, moving so he was standing in front of the boy.

"Then why didn't Paige deserve it?" Kurt looked him right in the face.

"I was raised going to church every Wednesday and Sunday, kid. When I was little I was told that being gay was wrong, that it was a sin. Now I'm sorry it took me a long time to come around." Burt said slowly, hating saying that to his son. Especially when Kurt's mother's eyes glared back at him, just like in the arguments he and Elizabeth had once had about the same exact things.

"Don't pin this on religion, Dad! It wasn't about religion. It was about _you_ … you thinking that being gay is _disgusting_." Kurt felt sick even repeating what his dad had said. "Am I disgusting, dad? Does the thought of Blaine and me kissing disgust you too?"

"I have been very accepting of you and of Blaine! I would not have willingly _invited_ him to live here if I was not accepting of you two!"

"Does it disgust you?"

"I don't think about it, Kurt!" Burt threw his hands in the air. "I don't think about it, okay? I don't think about Finn kissing that crazy girl either! You two want to go make out, go for it! Same with Finn and What's-Her-Name! As long as you aren't doing it with me in the room, I'm fine!"

"So what do you think when I hold his hand? Does it make you want to cringe? When the four of us go out to eat and Blaine grabs by hand as we walk into the restaurant, does that make you uncomfortable? Do you think we're faggots or wish someone was around to put us in our place?" Kurt asked, raising his voice. He wasn't sure if it was loud enough for Blaine or Carole to hear upstairs, but it was definitely louder.

"No! No, I don't! I do not want anyone to do anything to you or Blaine! I want you to be happy; I want Blaine to be happy! Kurt, I am completely okay with you being gay. I let the boy sleep in your _bed_ , for God's sake! Do you think I don't assume what happens at night? I'm not a complete idiot! You two are dating, have been dating for a long time, and are moving out. A guy can put two and two together and get four! If I had such a problem with it, he'd be on the couch or in the guest room or in Finn's room! Or, if I was that uncomfortable with it, he wouldn't be living under my roof!"

The initial thought was, _Oh god, he knows I have sex. Deny it, deny it._ But that was quickly replaced with more anger. "So why was it such a problem for Aunt Paige to be gay? If you're so accepting of me?"

"Because you're my son. Because I'm not some high school boy more worried about popularity than the things that matter. You can sit here all night and ask me these questions, Kurt. I can do nothing but say that I am sorry, that I was wrong, and that I have always and will always accept you. So, I will say it again and listen very carefully. I am sorry for what I did, I _was_ very wrong and unfortunately that is something that I cannot take back—I would if I could, Kurt. I regret what I did to your sister every day of my life. Every single day, Kurt."

Kurt just stared at him, face now emotionless.

Burt continued. "And I will _always_ accept you and I will _always_ fight for you to have the same rights as anyone else. I know you're upset with me right now and I know that… that you'll have to… do whatever it is that you do when you're mad at me. What I did was _wrong_ , Kurt. I know that. _Everyone_ knows that. But I can't change it. What can I do? It was twenty years ago, kid. All that I can do now is accept you. I can try to sleep better at night knowing that while I caused one kid to be pushed from her home, that I'm able to take in another one and ensure that they don't land on the streets like that girl may have. I want Blaine here, Kurt. Taking that kid in is like a second chance for me, alright? I didn't just let him move in to justify something I did twenty years ago, though. I care about that boy a _hell_ of a lot. I wouldn't have taken him in otherwise."

"Well I care about him a lot too." Kurt muttered, not knowing what else to say. He hadn't expected Blaine to be brought into the conversation.

Burt pointed towards the stairs. "I want _you_ to be able to marry Blaine if you want, Kurt. I want you two to be able to buy a house together, to have kids, to raise a family. Twenty years ago did I feel the same way? No, I probably would not have. But I do _now_. You can be mad, kiddo. You have every right to be because what I did was wrong—dead wrong. I don't know what else I can say, Kurt. That's where it stands. You know now. So… if you want to talk more, fine. I'll take the hit for what I did. I deserve it."

Kurt stood. He didn't do so in a dramatic fashion. He didn't give his dad a nasty look as he did so either. He just stood like he would any other normal way. "I don't want to talk right now… I kind of just want to think… or something. I want to go to my room."

His father put a hand on his shoulder. "I love you, Kurt. I do."

"I know, dad… I love you too. But I really… just don't know what to say to you right now."

Burt patted his shoulder and squeezed it, looking stressed out. "I understand that. We'll talk more later if you want. It doesn't have to be tonight or even this week… but we will whenever you're ready to."

"'Night." Kurt muttered, and went up the stairs. His dad was right. They would definitely have to talk about this more. He sat outside his room for several minutes, not quite ready to see Blaine. Or anyone, really.

At first he'd been so upset because his aunts had always been people he looked up to. He didn't know Hiram and Leroy until he was almost sixteen years old. His aunts, though, he had gotten to see generally seven or eight times a year. They kept up with him. And when he started to realize that he was different, that he was gay, he'd _really_ looked up to them.

It probably started when he was eight or nine. He and his aunt hadn't talked about him being gay until he was thirteen, but he'd been battling strange feelings long before that. He didn't like to play power rangers or cowboys. He wanted to have tea parties and play with dolls. He'd been different for a very, very long time. And his aunts were different too. He could just tell. He didn't know why, but the idea of two people of the same sex together had never… confused him. Bryden laughed and called him silly for being gay, but when he was that age he'd never thought it was strange. In fact, he had thought that being with someone of the same sex was a lot more comfortable. Was comfortable the right word?

He looked at his parents wedding pictures with his mom a lot, but Kurt had never been able to picture himself marrying a woman. Or kissing a woman, living with a woman. He had told his mom that he was never going to get married and have kids because it was weird. Bryden probably thought the idea of marrying a man was comfortable, while the idea of marrying a woman was weird. Could he really have known, deep down, that he was gay that early? Well, he certainly had known he was _different_ that early. Even if he hadn't known what it meant.

But he looked up to them. He looked up to Taylor and Paige because as he got older, as he learned more about himself, he _knew_ that was what he wanted. To have a boyfriend, to live with him, to be comfortable with him, to take him to family dinners the way Paige always brought Taylor. He loved when Taylor and Paige would take him out to the zoo or shopping randomly. He liked to just watch them interact with each other and he would go home and pretend he had a boyfriend and that they shared those smiles, those looks. The quick kisses to the cheek, the hand holding.

He wanted that so much and they became his role models. It was something to work for.

And now he found that in Blaine… and Taylor and Paige were _over_?

Just like that?

How was that even _possible_? They had always seemed so happy. You weren't with someone for fifteen years and then like, "Oh! Never mind, see you later!" If Paige hadn't wanted to get married, fine. Why did they have to break up? If that was the case, shouldn't the marriage thing have been discussed… oh, maybe 15 years earlier?

And say he and Blaine moved in together. They were happy, had their demon dog family, and then… they were no more.

What if he and Blaine broke up? Because Taylor and Paige seemed to be so comfortable in _their_ relationship. Yet… yet Kurt and Blaine's was currently very frayed around the edges. He didn't even know if he could trust Blaine to be completely honest with him about small things, so it wasn't like he could casually say, "Hey, if I propose to you in 15 years are you going to say no?" He couldn't even trust Blaine to be completely honest about the reasoning behind his sex life as a teenager and that was something in the past.

He hadn't even moved onto the other thing that was bothering him, his dad and aunt's relationship when the door opened and Blaine, on his way to the bathroom, practically tripped over Kurt. His eyes widened, he did some extremely fancy footwork that would have made Wes proud to avoid stepping on the boy, and then he arched his eyebrow. "The door wasn't locked, was it?"

"No." Kurt said softly, just blinking up at him from the floor.

"Uh… I really have to pee, but I'll be right back."

Kurt waved him on, leaning his head back against the wall. Blaine ruffled his hair, looking concerned, and then headed off to the bathroom. Two minutes later he took a seat on the floor next to Kurt, also leaning his head against the back of the wall.

"I have a splitting headache." He admitted.

Kurt turned his head so that it was still leaning against the wall but that he was also looking at Blaine. "Are you okay? Want me to get you some medicine?"

"No, I'll be fine." Blaine turned his head too and gave him a small smile. "I was reading Thoreau."

"That would give anyone a headache." Kurt moved his head again so he was starting straight ahead.

"He's definitely not my favorite. I'll be the first to admit that." He scratched his arm and sat up. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." He couldn't talk about it with Blaine. They were still half arguing. Besides, Wes had said that Blaine really needed a huge break from drama for a while. He didn't want to burden the boy. He really _did_ have enough going on.

Blaine spoke softly. "Kurt, something is wrong. I want to know."

"I don't want to stress you out, Blaine. It's really not a big deal." Kurt reached over and rested his hand on Blaine's thigh. "How are you?"

Blaine looked like he was going to protest, but then he just relaxed and laid his head on Kurt's shoulder. "Fine. I guess." He shrugged, but after a few silent minutes he spoke again. "I'm a little stressed out, actually."

"About what?" Kurt wrapped one arm around Blaine and re-situated them so Blaine was half curled up with his head on Kurt's chest.

Blaine closed his eyes and Kurt kissed the top of his head. "Just… everything."

"Care to elaborate on that?" Kurt hugged him closer, hoping he wasn't doing too much. Blaine didn't seem to mind the snuggling at all, though, as he shifted even closer and grabbed Kurt's free hand.

"I just… I've got a lot going on right now, Kurt. I'm worried about you… I wish I could lock you away so you'd never have to think about those people again." He said, eyes still closed. "I wish you didn't have to deal with any of the stuff you do… and I'm scared."

"Why are you scared?" Kurt rubbed his back with the hand that was not being squeezed in Blaine's larger one.

"Because the last time I moved out it was on my parent's money. What if I lose my jobs and we can't pay rent? Or what if one of our cars breaks down? We can't take one another to school. Our schools are too far away and in completely different directions."

"Dad will get us a rental." Kurt said simply. "That's the good thing about dating me. Dad can have your car fixed in no time and in the meantime, he can get awesome rental cars. He's got tons of connections."

"I didn't think of that." Blaine said softly.

"Yeah. I totaled my car once. When I first got it. Well, it wasn't _totaled_ , but it was pretty close to it."

"How'd you manage that?" Blaine looked up slightly.

"I'm not telling. You'll say I'm a bad driver." Kurt gave him a smile.

"You ran through a red light while changing playlists on your iPod, didn't you?" Blaine laid his head back down, snuggling.

"How do you _do_ that?"

"'Cause I know you, Kurt." His voice was muffled by Kurt's chest. "I know you."

Kurt kissed the top of his head and stared down at him. Somehow, when Blaine said stuff like that, it just stuck with him. _I know you. You move me. I love you._ And especially any time Blaine said _my love_. That was a one way ticket straight to Kurt's heart. He had always thought that nicknames were dumb and fake, tacky, but when Blaine said them… well, he understood what all the hype was about. And it didn't matter that tons of boys probably said _my love_ , because when Blaine said it it was special. Blaine was special. And he was really quite handsome, even when he was half asleep with his hair sticking out all over the place and wearing King's Island pajama pants. "Blaine, why didn't you sing in the Christmas show this year? I thought you had, like, every year since you were eight."

Blaine shrugged. "I don't know. My church is the one that always set me up with the shows and I haven't really gone since I left Dalton..."

"You went to church?" Kurt questioned, taken aback.

"Of course. All the politician's families go to church and act like saints." He made himself more comfortable. " _Makes for lovely background information when campaigning, Blaine_. It was okay, though. My pastor was really cool. It was David's church too. That's how we met."

"I thought you two met at Dalton…" he kissed the top of his head again.

"Mmh, no. We weren't close friends or anything until Dalton, but we knew each other. He lived, like, five houses down from me. So we'd hang out some times. And Wes lived on the other side of town. I didn't know Wes until right before I transferred… David brought him over to meet me. So I'd feel more comfortable going into Dalton. I'd know two people… Then we all became really good friends."

"What else is stressing you out?"

"My parents." He heaved a big sigh, sounding like a little kid. "I just… I just _know_ they're going to try something." He gestured as he sat up straight, hitting his knee. "I _know_ it, Kurt, because that's how they are. They wait until everything is good and then—and then they just…" he gestured again. "Come down on me. They just… mess it up."

"Hey…" Kurt wrapped his arms around him again, pulling him close. "We'll make sure that doesn't happen. Your car is _yours_ , so they can't hold _that_ over you, right?"

"Right." Blaine mumbled into his shoulder, frowning. "I bought it."

"We'll change your phone number so they don't have a way to contact you."

"It's on their account. I'm surprised they haven't shut it off, to be honest. They're probably using it to track me. That way when I least expect it they can push the red button to make the chip in my head explode."

Kurt just arched his eyebrow. "When you're grumpy, Blaine, you have a very active imagination."

"No. I wouldn't be surprised if they put a chip in my head. My mother is crazy."

"Is that where you get it from?" Kurt asked sweetly.

"Probably." Blaine admitted, biting his lip.

"They won't mess anything up, Blaine… there is nothing for them to mess up."

"There's us." The older boy mumbled quietly.

"If they tried to come between us, they would be very stupid. Because it would be wasted time." Kurt whispered back, pulling him closer.

His boyfriend smiled a bit and then frowned, moving out of his arms. "You really hurt my feelings, Kurt… I know that some of it was me being overly sensitive but…" he pursed his lips together. "I don't know. Never mind."

"You should just say it." Kurt said softly. "It might make you feel better."

"I mean, it's just that my feelings were hurt. I felt like what you said was really insensitive and I just… I really hope that every single time we have an argument my past doesn't get brought up. Because I'm insecure about it. It... it bothers me that I belittled myself that way, Kurt. I don't like to even think about it myself, let alone to have someone else bring it up to use against me… it makes me wish I hadn't told you. It makes me feel like I can't come to you with certain things."

"You have to understand," Kurt looked him in the eyes. "That what I said… I didn't even _consider_ your past. That's what people think about gay people. That we all have sex and get aids and then die. _You_ have had sex. A lot of it. Big deal. To me, that doesn't automatically mean I think you have AIDS. When I said that I was using the "gay AIDS" stereotype thing in a very… bad argument. But I was never insinuating that you have AIDS or you might have AIDS or that I thought you were going to get AIDS. I was saying that to make my dad sound bad… and it hurt your feelings because you took it in another way. I'm sorry."

Blaine nodded a bit.

"I can see why you would _now_. But then I _never_ would have thought you would have taken it that way. Because while you may or may not sit and think about your past… I mean, I've thought about it some. But it's not like its right in the back of my brain every minute of every day. That's why I got so upset when _you_ got upset. Because I didn't equate me saying that with _you_ being upset. And then you wouldn't tell me why you were upset. You expected me to just _know_ … but I'm not a mind reader, Blaine. If you go off for fifteen minutes and come back and don't _tell_ me you've been crying, how am I going to know? I wish I could read your mind…" Kurt spoke very quietly and gently. "If you're upset you need to tell me. Because there are a lot of times you'll be quiet when you aren't upset. Sometimes it's hard for people to differentiate, Blaine. Granted I probably should have gathered something was wrong when you took so long but I was kind of freaking out. _Apparently_ , as Wes told me, you have a very big problem coming to people."

Blaine sighed. Wes would go and do something like that.

"You need to know that you can come to me when you're upset. I just… automatically go to you because you're always there. You usually ask. But I'm a much more expressive person. People can tell my mood just by looking at me. When you're happy you're very expressive, Blaine. Your smile can light up an entire room. But when you're bored or upset or tired… those faces aren't as expressive. And I'm going to need a little help learning to read them better. So you need to come to me when you're upset. I want to be here for you too."

"You've got so much going on. You don't need my stress too."

Kurt nudged him. "So _you_ can take all the stress, but I can't? That's not very fair, Blaine Anderson. One would think this wasn't a relationship of equality."

"I… don't like talking about stuff. It makes life difficult."

"Okay." Kurt sat up straight and moved Blaine into an upright position as well. He took both of Blaine's hands. "Now I'm not saying this is an end to… this _lovely_ and _exciting_ stage of awkwardness that we have going on. I know it's going to take some time still."

Blaine nodded, eyes on him.

"But _I_ am going to promise to be less insensitive, less judgmental, less childish, and less unobservant. I'm going to try. It might… take some time."

"Okay." Blaine whispered.

"And _you_ are going to promise to come to me when you're feeling upset or… or stressed, or tired, or sickly, or annoyed, or mad, and _especially_ if you're feeling scared. You're _also_ going to promise to open up to me more and to let me carry some of the stress too. And you're going to promise to stop getting up early to take me to school. _I_ will be fine and you need your rest. You stay up late enough working on homework and stuff."

"But—"

"If we're ever going to last, this can't be a one-sided emotional relationship… maybe that's not the way to put it." Kurt stared ahead for several seconds. "What I mean is… we both have to be open to each other… we've got to tell each other everything… You can help me carry my stress… but only if I get to help you carry yours. Does that make more sense?"

Blaine just buried his face in Kurt's chest, pulling the younger boy close.

"I want to be there as much for you as you are for me, Blaine… but I can't do that if you don't let me. Alright? You've got to help me out here and hold my hand through all of this because I've never done this before and I'm really bad at it."

The older boy nodded into his chest.

"Let's get you into bed. We'll watch the Lion King until we fall asleep." Kurt kissed the top of his head once again.

"I've still got some homework."

"Your class isn't until 5:30 at night. You can do it tomorrow. Tonight we're going to just relax, watch a movie, and cuddle. Well, I need to finish my pizza in the middle of that somewhere, too."

"Alright." Blaine gave a resigned sigh and stood up. "My head still hurts anyway. I wouldn't get too much done even if I worked on it."

Kurt accepted the hand that his boyfriend held out and allowed Blaine to carefully pull him up. "Get on in bed and I'll start the movie. Don't step on your laptop like you almost always do."

Blaine climbed into the middle of the bed and spread out, watching Kurt fumble through his massive DVD collection (which had always been strategically organized in the past but there was no point now that Finn lived with him) until the younger boy let out an "Aha!" of triumph, put the DVD in the player, and laid next to him.

"Thanks for listening to me earlier, Kurt." Blaine whispered, curling up against his boyfriend.

Kurt felt a little tug at his heart. "I'm always here to listen to you, Blaine. But you've very welcome, babe."

Blaine kissed his arm and smiled. "You're still my love. I hope you know that. You always will be."

Kurt smiled back, and this one met his eyes. "Good. You'll always be mine too."

Blaine snuggled up to Kurt and watched the Lion King, eyes glued to the screen, until he eventually fell asleep half way through. Kurt very slowly sat up and eased Blaine, who had moved half onto him, onto the bed. Blaine whimpered softly, arm moving around and trying to find him. Kurt leaned down and kissed his cheek, immediately stopping his boyfriend's whimpers. The younger boy turned the DVD player and TV off, plugged Blaine's laptop up to it's charger, turned the lights off, and then crawled into bed.

"Good night, Blaine."

"Go'ight, 'Urt." Blaine mumbled sleepily, scooting right back into his previous position.

"I love you, Blaine." Kurt ruffled his hair.

"Mmh loves and kisses." Blaine kissed his shoulder lazily before letting out a snore.

Things were going to be okay.

_ **Part Four** _

Kurt was sitting at the table, working on homework, when Blaine came into the kitchen. The first thing that he noticed was that Kurt's hair was not done, something very unusual for Kurt so early in the day. After all, it was _Kurt._

"You didn't fix your hair before school today?" Blaine gasped jokingly, smiling brightly. Four days had passed since the two had fallen asleep watching The Lion King and stuff was slowly starting to get closer and closer to normal.

Kurt turned and looked at him, wearing a blank expression. Finally he mumbled, "Not exactly."

The expression on his boyfriend's face instantly made his stomach twist. He could tell something wasn't right with Kurt and it made him feel uneasy. "But it's not fixed. Do you not feel good?"

"I had to take a shower after school, alright?" Kurt sighed a bit and returned his attention to whatever homework he was doing.

That made Blaine even more nervous. He walked to the table slowly, putting a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "What happened?"

"Karofsky slushied me today. I really don't want to talk about it, though." The younger boy did not look up from his textbook. He didn't even seem to respond to Blaine's hand on his shoulder or his close presence. Usually Kurt would lean against him and tilt his head back to look at his boyfriend. He was not one for paying close attention to homework. Unless it was French.

"Wait, you told me that he hadn't even talked to you in weeks." His voice unintentionally rose and he felt his blood run cold. So this sudden change in Kurt's attitude was because of Karofsky. It all made sense now. Of course it was. He had not been expecting anything like this from Kurt because, as far as he knew, Karofsky was still keeping to his whole anti-bullying charade. While Blaine still didn't feel very happy that Kurt was around the boy, he had at least felt comfort in knowing that the boy wouldn't try anything else. Apparently, though, he wouldn't even have _that_ anymore.

Kurt slammed his book shut and turned to face him. He looked highly annoyed and his voice came out at a higher than normal pitch. "He hadn't until today, Blaine. Sam and I were on our way to the library and he did it to both of us. I don't want to talk about it, though. I'm furious. I just want to do my homework, alright?"

"No, I think that we need to talk about it. What else did he do? Kurt?"

"Blaine, I don't want to talk about it!" he snapped.

"Then something else happened." Why didn't Kurt want to talk about it? Had something worse happened? Had Karofsky threatened his life again? Blaine grabbed his arm gently and looked at the pale skin but saw no bruises, and then he grabbed the other arm surveying it equally as closely.

"Stop it." There was an edginess in Kurt's voice that made Blaine slightly nervous, but he continued to pry for information.

"No. Did he touch you, Kurt?" he put his hand under Kurt's chin and titled his head up. There were no marks on the boy's face or neck.

"Yes. Okay. Yes?" Kurt stood up, his voice raising even higher. "Sam and I were going to the library during lunch. He's failing French 2 and if he fails he'll get kicked off the team. So I was going to help him. I dropped my book and Sam picked it up and then he and—you know what, I just _don't want to talk about it_. Okay? I don't want to talk about it!"

"I want to know what he did!" This time Blaine's voice rose too. He had to make Kurt see that he _needed_ to know what had happened. And Kurt _needed_ to talk to someone. Blaine knew how it felt after being bullied at school. He knew it all too well. He also knew that talking about it helped, if only a little bit.

Kurt just sighed and gave Blaine a look that broke his heart. "It will just stress you out, Blaine. Please, let's… please. Come on. Let's go do something. Please. I don't—."

And there it was. Why Kurt was trying to keep it in when he normally would have opened up to Blaine immediately—he couldn't remember how many times Kurt had called him crying or upset after school, both when Blaine was at Dalton and more recently when he was at had he ever told Kurt he was stressed? Now Kurt was going to not come to him when he _needed_ to. No. This was why he kept stuff in. When he opened up, it backfired. "No. I don't care if it will stress me out. I'm already stressed out about it. Kurt, what did he do? He didn't kiss you, did he?" his eyes widened. "Kurt, did he kiss you? Did he do something _else_?" Now he was jumping to irrational conclusions. Like Karofsky would try something with Sam _right there_ , but when Blaine was in the middle of freaking out his mind tended to not think rationally .

"No. Sam was there. Please, Blaine. Let's… come on." He moved to kiss Blaine, clearly in an attempt to distract him.

"Kurt…" Blaine gently pushed him back until he was at arm's length. He tried to calm his voice, although he did not feel calm at all. He was so mad he was almost shaking. Why couldn't Kurt get a break? Why did people insist on messing with his boyfriend? Kurt didn't deserve it. He didn't! "Kurt… please. Tell me what he did. It will stress me out more if I sit and make up things in my mind that didn't happen, okay?"

"Sam picked up my book and Karofsky started insinuating that we were dating which is ridiculous because Sam is completely straight and dating some girl. He was just being _nice_. I guess it pissed him off because he came up and shoved me into the wall, so Sam tried to pull him off and it just escalated."

"Come upstairs."

"What?" Kurt raised his eyebrows.

"Come upstairs and show me or I'll lift your shirt up here and do it myself."

Kurt sighed. "Blaine, you're making it worse than it is. Calm down."

"I want to see." Blaine moved towards the stairs, grabbing his hand and gently tugging.

" _Fine_." Kurt sighed and went ahead of Blaine, already tugging his t-shirt off as he walked through his bedroom doorway.

Blaine closed the door and looked at Kurt. He could see a very faint red mark on his shoulder where he'd been pushed and his hand clenched. His eyes lingered over the scar on Kurt's side from his surgery and Blaine felt himself becoming even angrier, seeing Kurt's battered and bruised body on the hospital bed—something he'd been able to not picture for about two months now. It was easier to forget now that Kurt was able to resume his regular life, but when he _did_ think of it, it still hurt as much as it had when he'd seen Kurt on the hospital bed that first night. He swallowed hard and then clenched his jaw.

"Blaine, you're going to crack a tooth if you bite down like that any harder." The younger boy said softly.

Blaine went behind him and could see three faint lines on the back of his shoulder from what Blaine knew must have been the ridges in the McKinley lockers. He clenched his jaw even harder, tracing the marks ever so gently. "I'm going to kill him."

Kurt turned around and blinked at him, before smiling a bit.

"What? It's not funny, Kurt. You've got marks." He stared at his boyfriend, dumbstruck.

"Come here, you." Kurt said, holding his arms open. "You're so protective, you know . It's very cute, considering how tiny you are."

"No, I'm mad. I—."

Kurt stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Blaine. "Fine. While _you_ stand there and rant, I'm going to hug you. Feel free to return the hug at your own disposal, but preferably sooner rather than later." He rested his head on Blaine's shoulder and nuzzled it.

Blaine felt his anger subsiding slowly—very slowly—until he was finally able to reach out, wrap his arms around Kurt, and pull him closer. He let out a sigh and took in Kurt's scent—he smiled like apple. It was customary for Kurt to eat a green apple as soon as he got home from school. He replayed the words Kurt had spoken in his mind, trying to not get angry again, and then he pulled back a bit to look at his boyfriend confused. HeHeH"I thought you said you took a shower because you got slushied, Kurt?"

"Mr. Schue broke up the fight… Karofsky went off, so Sam and I just went into the library to keep on studying. But he must have been really mad because when we left the library after lunch, he slushied us." Kurt seemed to have opted for giving less details than before, in an attempt to put a stopper in some of Blaine's anger.

"So Mr. Schue _sees_ him bullying not one students but _two,_ whether for being gay or not, and _lets him walk away_?" Blaine pulled away once again, eyes flashing angrily.

He absolutely hated how highly students talked of Mr. Schue when, from what Blaine had seen, the teacher never really did much for the kids. Granted, Blaine was very protective and very biased when it came to Kurt. To add to that, Blaine had never exactly met the man to form a real opinion of him. That didn't matter, though. He just didn't see how any teacher who turned their head when it came to violence against a student—especially a gay student—could have received any respect from anyone.

"Okay, okay, come back." Kurt pulled him to his chest once again and began stroking his curly hair.

"Kurt, I don't like that he lets people get away with this!"

"He just doesn't like to get involved is all." Kurt whispered, but there was a definite tone of bitterness in his soft voice.

"And that's ridiculous! He's supposed to protect and help his students! He shouldn't be blindly looking aw—.'

"Shh, shh. You're getting all angry. I don't want you angry during our dinner tonight." Kurt rocked him slightly, fingers still running through his curls. "It's just the way it is, Blaine. There's only two and a half months left of high school. I can handle it."

"You shouldn't ha—."

Kurt rolled his eyes and pressed his lips against Blaine's. Blaine tried to pull away, glaring, but Kurt moved his hand behind Blaine's head and held it in place. After several long seconds, Blaine relaxed and returned the kiss.

"Good. Are we better now?" Kurt asked, his hand moving to stroke the back of Blaine's neck. Blaine, who was very sensitive when it came to both his neck and stomach, closed his eyes and let his mouth open slightly. He leaned over and pressed his lips to Blaine's neck, prompting a low groan. He felt Kurt smile into his neck before the younger boy pulled away. "Hmm?"

"Yes." Blaine said a little grumpily, although now he didn't know if it was from lack of kissing or if he was still angry about what had happened to his boyfriend. Honestly, it was probably a little bit of both. Now it was Kurt who didn't want to have sex with people at home and not Blaine. There were very few windows of time that Burt, Carole, and Finn were not there. The sexual tension was becoming unbearable between the two boys.

The younger boy gave Blaine a small smile and clapped excitedly. "Good! Now, for our dinner, I know you want to go out and eat. _But_ I think we should compromise. I think we should stay in, order your awful and unhealthy Chinese food, and then we'll go out and get my delicious and healthy frozen yogurt. Well, mine will be healthy. You'll, without a doubt, put sprinkles and chocolate syrup all over yours. Can you agree to that? You haven't had Chinese in a while."

"I think I can agree to that." Blaine nodded, trying to not focus on anything negative. He would worry about Karofsky and everything after their belated (by weeks) Valentine's Day dinner. But he _would_ be continuing the conversation at some point. There was no denying that. "If you're sure. I thought Valentine's Day celebrations were supposed to be romantic expensive dinners at nice restaurants."

"I'd much rather stay home with you, in bed, and eat Chinese. You're rubbing off on me, Blaine. I'm starting to actually enjoy quiet nights at home."

Blaine rolled his eyes and squeezed Kurt's hand. "You make me sound boring."

Kurt kissed his cheek. "I'm going to go order the Chinese. You should either pick out a movie for us to watch or find some music. I trust you."

"Because my taste is better." The older boy muttered, sitting down by Kurt's DVD collection.

"I heard that, Blaine Anderson!"

* * *

Two days passed after the boys' belated Valentine's Day dinner. The two had stayed curled up in bed with Chinese food while watching The Lady and the Tramp. As Kurt had explained it to Mercedes the next morning, Blaine got his junk food and Kurt got his favorite Disney movie. It was a rather fitting compromise for the two, in his opinion. They hadn't gotten out of bed until nearly ten that night when they went to get their frozen yogurt (and yes, Blaine did indeed put sprinkles, hot fudge, and marshmallows on his, by the way).

The following day the two had been in the middle of a rather heated make out session—shirts were off and pants were being unbuttoned—when Kurt's Aunt Taylor had called. Kurt had never been more annoyed at a human being in his _life_ , but the second he saw who was calling his eyes had lit up and he sat up straight. He hadn't talked to Taylor since his aunts' break up and he had been worried that he'd never hear from her again. As Kurt chattered on excitedly to his aunt as if nothing had ever happened, Blaine tried to keep kissing his neck. Kurt had let him keep at this for a few minutes before he got a little too distracted and his pants got a little too tight, so he had to gently push his lover away.

That particular phone conversation brought both Blaine and Kurt to a small restaurant that was midway between Lima and Columbus, where they had decided to meet Taylor who would be driving straight through to a convention for work. Kurt often met Taylor for dinner when she would be driving through, but he was very nervous for a few reasons. Firstly, he was worried because although he and his aunt had talked on the phone, he had not actually seen her since the break up and he didn't know how to act. Secondly, it was kind of a big thing bringing Blaine to something like this. Sometimes he still got nervous and excited over sharing new things with his boyfriend, although that was probably silly at this point in their relationship.

"Are we going to go in?"

Kurt took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. Suddenly everything that could possibly go wrong at this dinner was going through his head. If Blaine became irrational when it came to people messing with Kurt, then Kurt became irrational when it came down to interactions with people. He had always been that way, really, to an extent. Lately it had just become a little more intense.

Blaine leaned forward and looked in his eyes. "Come _on_. You already said that's her car over there. She's your aunt; I don't know why you're being all nervous, silly."

Kurt tore his eyes away from Blaine's and looked at her aunt's empty car that was parked next to theirs. It was weird to see that car. Taylor and Paige had always taken Paige's car to family events because it got better mileage, so he had really only seen the car on the rare occasion that he spent a few days with them over summer break. "Blaine, this is weird for me, okay? I don't know what to _say_."

"You didn't know what to say before you talked to her on the phone either and that turned out okay." Blaine pointed out, shrugging out of his jacket. They were sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant, just sitting in the front seat. And they had been sitting there for quite some time. "But… but I don't know what to say. I don't want to say the wrong thing and upset her. What if it makes her sad seeing the two of us together?"

"It won't, Kurt. I promise. At any rate, she invited me too, you know? Obviously she's not worried about it."

Kurt put his hand on the door handle and began to open the door, but then pulled his hand away. He was being completely irrational and anxious over nothing. The longer he sat in the car, the more knotted his stomach became."I just…"

Blaine hopped out of the car, walked to the passenger side and pulled the door open. "She's sitting in there all alone, Kurt. Come on. It's your _aunt_. Your aunt who you've been excited to see since she called last night. You couldn't stop talking about it all morning." He held out his hand. "It will be fine. You're being silly."

Kurt stared at the hand and then took it, allowing Blaine to pull him from the BMW. Blaine squeezed his hand in that familiar way that was just _Blaine_ and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Just by holding his hand, Blaine had managed to make him feel about twenty times better than he had before. How did Blaine Anderson _do_ that? "Okay, let's go."

Blaine walked to the door with him and, of course, held the door open. Kurt smiled and walked through, holding it open until Blaine walked through. When Blaine made it through he closed the door and pressed a kiss to the older boy's cheek. It only took the boys two minutes to find Taylor. She was sitting at a table drinking a soda and talking into her phone.

"I don't care what your boyfriend wants you to do. I pay you to run my store when I'm not there. If you want a job, you'll show up tomorrow morning." She said in a stern voice, but smiled happily and waved as Kurt and Blaine sat down across from her. "No, I already told you. I won't be back in New York until Tuesday… well your work schedule is made two weeks in advance, Claire, so I think that's a personal problem."

"She runs a bookstore." Kurt whispered to Blaine, seeing his slightly confused look.

" _Owns_." Taylor corrected, covering the bottom of her phone.

"That's so cool!" Blaine said excitedly, putting the jacket that he had brought in with him in case it got cold on the back of his chair. Of course he would be excited about that. The boy had a stack of eight books waiting to be read sitting on the corner of Kurt's desk. Anything concerning literature excited Blaine.

"I don't know why I didn't tell you before. I guess sometimes I think we're so connected that you automatically know everything about me." Kurt gave his boyfriend a small smile, already feeling better. Taylor sounded the exact same way that she always sounded on the phone with her employees. Even when he was younger and out with Taylor and Paige, Taylor would often have to take phone calls in which she would put on her stern manager voice because, as she put it, everything goes to hell when a manager leaves their store. Maybe his was actually doing okay. Kurt was still trying to come to terms with the fact that they were broken up, but his aunt seemed perfectly fine. He found himself unsure if that was a good thing or not.

Taylor finally snapped her cell phone shut, stood, and pulled Kurt into a hug. "You two are _so_ cute. All opening car doors and kissing and it's just too much to take. I think part of my insides turned to goo just witnessing it."

Kurt blushed a bit but hugged her back tightly. "I miss you."

"Aw, I miss you too, Kurtsie." She pulled away from the hug and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Blaine, you've been taking very good care of him. He looks _loads_ better than he did on Thanksgiving. Oh, Kurt, I worried about you for weeks after that. You couldn't even wake up enough to properly tell us bye. It was so sad, sweetheart."

"I'm doing much better." Kurt said truthfully. And, now that he was seeing Taylor and she seemed fine, he felt even better than he had before. He bit his lip and took his seat next to Blaine. Blaine's hand rested on his leg and Kurt felt a small thrill run through his body. "How are you?"

"No, no, I want to hear about you first. _Both_ of you. Your grammy told me that you two were fighting because of Paige's… erm… drunken fit."

"You still talk to grammy?"

"You know your grammy. Once you're in the family, you're stuck there. She calls me about once a week to check up on me, see how I'm doing." She kind of waved her hand and shrugged, pausing when the waiter came to ask what the two boys wanted. After the teen left, she smiled brightly. " _And don't worry._ I can tell you are. I'm fine, Kurt." She looked at Blaine. "I'm sure you already know this, but he is _such_ a worrier."

"But you have to be upset, Aunt Taylor…" Kurt whispered, not giving Blaine a chance to answer. "You all were together for 15 years, and even more before that. _I'm_ upset."

Blaine squeezed his leg reassuringly.

"Baby, there is no reason for you to be upset. Nothing is going to change for _you_. I'm still going to see you equally as much as I have for the past fifteen years. I waited a while to call because… well, I knew that you were upset and that you and Blaine were fighting. I didn't want to make it even worse… but we're going to talk as much on the phone as we did before too. I promise."

It wasn't just that, though. He had been afraid he'd lose touch with his aunt, but he was still holding onto the fact that they had been his first role model relationship. And now they were done. So, what did that say for Kurt and Blaine? Would they end in fifteen years? Or sooner than that?

"What's wrong, Kurtsie? You look like you want to cry." She stood and scooted her chair by him, sitting on his other side and taking his hand.

"It's silly." Kurt sighed. He hadn't even told Blaine about how long he'd looked up to his aunts and their relationship, although Blaine probably suspected something of the sort.

"Anything that upsets you is not silly until it's not upsetting anymore. So, out with it."

"You two _have_ to get back together, okay?" Kurt suddenly pleaded, although both Burt and Blaine had specifically told him to say nothing like that. Blaine's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly. "No. It's not fair. It's not fair that she turned you down. And it's not fair that you gave her an ultimatum. You all have been together too long to break up and you're one of the two gay couples I know that have actually lasted _and it's just not fair_!"

"Kurt—." Taylor began.

"No. You don't stay with someone that long if you don't really love them. Tell her you'll take her back, Aunt Taylor. I know you love her and I know that she loves you!"

"Kurt, please." Blaine whispered.

" _No_." he looked at Blaine, blue eyes huge. "You don't understand, Blaine. If they've been together for this long and break up… what does that mean for _us_?"

Taylor wrapped an arm around him and spoke in a soft voice. "Your aunt and I have nothing to do with the relationship you have with Blaine. Straight people split up too, Kurt. And it took Paige and I three years to get to how close you and Blaine are now. _Everyone_ can see how deeply in love you two are and it hasn't even been a year yet… " She moved her arm and stroked his hair. "Just because we broke up doesn't mean you and Blaine will."

"B-But what if we do?"

"Honey, you and Blaine are two completely different people. You have no reason to think that you two will ever break up." She kissed the side of his face. "And Paige and I never had to go through the things like you and Blaine have already gone through. That means something, honey. Getting through your attack, through his parents, through your first big fight. All of that bad stuff makes the good stuff more worthwhile. And knowing that you all have gotten through so much stuff at _such a young age…_ well, it's going to make everything else in the future a little more bearable. Because you'll know that you have already been through so much and you're still strong. So your relationship… it can't be compared to mine and Paige's. Paige and I lived in New York City, where there are tons of gay people and acceptance is almost everywhere. It was easier to be us… you and Blaine are special because it's not easy here, it's really hard, and he's still by your side and your still by his."

Kurt just sniffled. "It seems like the world is ending."

She laughed and pulled him into another hug. "The world isn't ending, sweetheart."

Kurt leaned into her, frowning. "Just take her back. You love her."

"Sometimes it isn't that easy, Kurt." She kissed his cheek again. "I'm sorry, baby. I know this is hard for you. But just imagine how hard it is for _me_. And for your aunt. We've been together for 15 years, and 2 years before that…"

"If you love her, why isn't it that easy?" Kurt challenged.

"Kurt, stop." Blaine whispered, nudging him.

"I don't want to stop, Blaine. This isn't _right_. If they love each other and can't be together, how can we?"

"Honey, one day you're going to have to open your eyes and see that being dramatic and throwing a fit can't get you everything you want." His aunt whispered. "You have to realize that your aunt and I are 40 years old. Together we made a decision to end our relationship. We could not settle on an agreement, so we ended it. Your aunt and I did that. It affects your aunt and I. I know it hurts but if you spend your entire relationship trying to live up to this image in your head, baby, then that takes away everything that is special about it."

Kurt sniffled again.

"Now, Blaine, are you planning on breaking up with Kurt any time soon?"

"Of course not." Blaine squeezed Kurt's leg.

"Now, Kurt, if Blaine proposes to you in _a lot of_ years from now, will you say no?"

"No." he whispered.

"I don't know what we're going to do with this poor thing, Blaine." Taylor cooed, rocking Kurt a bit. "He gets to be just pitiful when he's upset, doesn't he?"

"Yes." Blaine nodded, smiling. "I've never seen anyone that can pout quite like him. It's very endearing."

"Don't make fun of me. I'm really upset." Kurt wiped his eyes again and gravitated towards his boyfriend, needing to be closer to him. "I need a hug."

"I've got one to give." Blaine opened his arms and pulled Kurt close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Babe, I've got something else I want to say too really quickly before I have to leave." Taylor sighed. "You're talking to Burt again, right?"

"Yeah… I am." He looked down, almost guiltily. He and his father had indeed had another talk a few days ago about exactly what had happened. It hadn't been a very long discussion or anything. Kurt had told his father that, while he wasn't happy about his actions that Kurt wasn't going to go around being angry at the man. After all, it was his father. The same man that had always stood up for him. He couldn't just write off everything that his dad had done for him because of something in his past.

"Good." Taylor sighed. "I'm so sorry that you had to find out this way… I don't think Burt wanted you to ever know. I disagreed with you being completely unaware… but I don't think that Paige should have gone and did that. It should have been something that Burt sat you down and discussed alone with you… That way, you wouldn't have gone into it quite so angry."

Kurt nodded a bit. He probably would have felt a lot better about it if his father had come to him first, not only after his aunt had basically shouted it out for everyone to hear. He let himself lean more against his boyfriend and felt Blaine's arms tighten around him as Blaine kissed the back of his shoulder.

"You've got to realize that Burt has _always_ accepted you, sweetie. You're his baby. And that's important. You're _his_ baby. Your aunt… well, she just wanted to start trouble for him because she was upset. And you, unfortunately, played right into that…"

"I probably should have been a little more mature about it." Kurt muttered uncomfortably, looking down. "Well, about a lot of things."

"I think next time something like this happens, you'll handle it admirably. The fact that you just said you were immature about it should clue you in, also, that you need to treat your daddy a little better. Okay? I know he was an awful teenager, but I _promise_ you in twenty years when you're your dad's age, you will think back on stuff you did—maybe even this fight between you and Blaine—and you will cringe right on the spot and be like, 'Why was I so stupid?' I _promise_. I probably do it almost every day."

"I know… I apologized. And he did too, for not sitting me down on his own and telling me." Kurt said quietly, paying very close attention to his hands. Blaine's hold on him did make him feel a little better, although he was still feeling quite guilty and childish. He hated that, at least at that moment in time, that all of his problems went back to his being childish. "Before I felt like I was handling stuff in such a grown up way… and now… I just feel like an immature kid. This dinner, Dad, and the fight with Blaine…"

She kissed his cheek again. "You're just growing up. It takes some time. You'll get there eventually and I can guarantee a month after living alone with Blaine, you'll be much more grown up. Perhaps in more ways than one." She winked. "Unless of course, you're already having sex—which I bet you are, by that look on your face—in which case you'll probably have loads _more_ sex, and trust me, that'll make everything a lot more cheerful."

"Oh god." was all Kurt managed to say, furiously blushing.

"Okay, I hate to say this but I really do have to go… I have to be in Columbus in just a few hours and I need to beat the rush." Taylor stood. "Can I have a big hug?"

Kurt pulled out of Blaine's arms and hugged his aunt tightly.

"Call Paige. I know you're mad, but she's your aunt too. She loves you just as much as I do, baby, and she's upset too. She could probably use a little Kurt Chat to cheer her up." She whispered in his ear, squeezing him back. "And don't worry about your relationship with Blaine, okay? You two are going to be just fine. I promise."

Kurt nodded numbly, still not sure he _believed_ that. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. I _promise_ we'll keep in touch. Call me after Tuesday, okay? And I'd love to see the new apartment when you two get moved in!" she kissed his cheek and moved to hug Blaine. "It was good to see you, sweetheart."

"You too." Blaine smiled at her.

"Take care of him, okay? And don't let him continue thinking this nonsense with Paige and I has anything to do with you two."

"I'll try."

And then Taylor gave Kurt one last hug and left the restaurant after putting down enough money for all three of their meals that had barely been touched. Kurt sipped at his water, looking torn between wanting to cry and wanting to sleep, although it was only two o'clock.

"Are you ready to go, my love?" Blaine whispered, kissing him on the lips and ignoring the nasty look that an old man across the room sent their way.

"Can you just hug me again and promise you won't leave me?" Kurt asked childishly, blinking up at his boyfriend.

"Of course I can, silly." Blaine slid his arms around Kurt, hugging the smaller boy. "I will never leave you."

"I'll never leave you either." Kurt sniffled, nuzzling his neck.

* * *

"You know, you could have told me that was why you were so upset about them breaking up." Blaine whispered later that night after they had crawled into bed. The room was pitch black and both boys were lying pressed close, with Kurt's arms tightly around Blaine's neck and Blaine's arms around Kurt's tiny waist.

Kurt leaned over and turned on the lamp, then fell back into his previous position and stared into his boyfriend's eyes. He let his fingers absent-mindedly stroke the back of Blaine's neck and his broad shoulders. "I… felt silly saying it… Taylor was right. I can't try to live up to something else. But I feel like… maybe I do."

"I don't think you were trying to recreate your aunts' relationship, Kurt. I think you just… wanted something like it." Blaine's fingers slipped underneath Kurt's t-shirt (that was actually Blaine's and he'd been looking for it for days) and he made shapes on the small of his younger boyfriend's back.

"I just don't understand it, Blaine… it scares me. They were together so long and now it's just… over." Kurt whispered, blue eyes not straying from his boyfriend's hazel ones. "That's scary."

"It is." Blaine admitted, spelling out _I love you_ with his fingertip. "But I don't think we need to worry about that."

"What if one of us proposed, though? What if I did propose? Or you?"

"If you proposed to me, I would say yes." Blaine whispered, not even blinking.

"If I asked you right now?"

"If you asked right now, I'd ask if you were feeling okay." His boyfriend laughed and Kurt felt himself smile a bit. What he had said was true. Blaine's smile really could light up an entire room.

People thought Kurt was the _cute_ one, but Kurt disagreed. The biggest proof? Blaine was obsessed with Disney—not the television shows, he hated those after about fifteen minutes. But he had a collection of Disney princess movies that would rival an eight year olds' collection. Then there was the way Blaine's hair curled and sometimes gave him the appearance of a much younger teen. He thought it was adorable how that whenever Blaine would get a really big smile, his eyes would get very bright, a caramel brown almost sometimes, and his nose would scrunch up. He also thought it was adorable when Blaine would forfeit his blue jeans and t-shirts (apparently a UK tradition that he had adopted, much to Kurt's displeasure) and he would wear his nicer shirts with cardigans and his converses—especially his purple or his neon green converses, which he didn't wear too much. They were still Kurt's favorites, though, and he often wished that Blaine would wear them more. What was more adorable than a young adult boy with curly hair and a bright smile wearing brightly colored shoes? It was adorable when he would get stressed out over some paper, declaring it had been the worst paper he'd ever written and how he should just change majors or drop out of college, and then he would get said graded paper back with an A+ splattered with compliments and comments on every margin telling him how amazing the essay was. Or how he was actually very good at math, but would never say so out loud to anyone but Kurt. That was adorable too. Blaine was a closet math geek. He loved that his boyfriend was so smart, kind, gorgeous, _and_ , of course, adorable. No, Kurt had to disagree. Sweet Blaine was definitely more adorable.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Kurt?" Blaine suddenly asked suspiciously, pulling him back to reality. Reality was a sad place when it pulled you away from thoughts of the breathtaking Blaine Anderson, Kurt could promise you that much.

"I'd say yes. If you asked me right now." Kurt whispered, curling up and resting his head on Blaine's chest. His silly smile didn't leave his face.

"It's going to be a while before we get engaged, Kurt… but it will happen." Blaine whispered back, ruffling his hair and smiling to himself also.

"But what if it doesn't?" he rested his chin on Blaine's chest and tilted his head to look up at him. His smile faltered, but did not completely disappear. He just wanted reassurance, really. He wanted to know that his worrying was for nothing.

"It will. Remember? I've got the plan." He tapped his own head. "Red door, porch swing, and all. It will all happen, my love."

"But what if it's not completely legal when we decide we want to do it?"

Blaine reached down and ruffled his hair affectionately. "As I've told you before, so I don't see why you're worrying so much, I don't need a silly piece of paper to say that I love you and that we'll be together forever. As long as _you_ agree to spend the rest of your life with me, what does the rest matter?"

Kurt nodded. "I guess it makes sense when you say it like that."

Blaine sat up and kissed the top of his forehead _._ "I'll be right back, my love."

Kurt arched his eyebrow and waited impatiently for his boyfriend to get back, fingers drummingon the mattress. When he entered the room he had a huge glass of milk and a big bowl of teddy grahams.

"What? I was hungry!" Blaine said at the look on Kurt's face.

"Who even bought _teddy grahams_? Why wouldn't you just get graham crackers?"

"Because you can't torture graham crackers, _duh_." The older boy responded as he was shocked to even be asked the question.

"T-torture? What?"

Blaine's hazel eyes widened and he climbed onto the bed excitedly, looking like a little boy who had been told Christmas was coming early. "You've never killed a teddy graham, Kurt? You don't know what you're missing!"

"How do you kill a teddy graham?" Kurt asked slowly.

"There are tons of ways; that's what makes it so fun! Oh my God, you've never killed a teddy graham. No wonder you're so dramatic and emotional. Killing teddy grahams is like an emotional release. Oh my God, Kurt, you haven't lived! Didn't you ever see the commercial with the little boy who drowned his in milk?" Blaine made a teddy graham walk on the top of his glass and said, in a high pitched voice, "Oh no, I think I'm falling! Help me, help!" and then in a deep voice, he said, "BOOM!" and tossed it into the cup.

"Oh my God, you're twisted, Blaine!" Kurt hit his shoulder a few times, completely shocked by how immature Blaine was being. He tried to ignore the fact that Blaine was very cute when he was excited about something. It reminded Kurt of how excited Blaine had been when they got their puppy. Maybe Kurt liked childishly excited Blaine. He definitely liked the fact that Blaine still found new and interesting ways to shock him.

Blaine continued, in his normal voice, "It's okay! I'll save you!" and fished the teddy graham out of the class of milk, and then added, "Mwaha! Now I'll eat you!" before he tossed it into his mouth and swallowed it.

Kurt stared at him for several seconds. "Blaine! What is _wrong_ with you?"

Blaine just laughed loudly and handed him a teddy graham. "Come on, you do it."

"No! I'm not sick and twisted like you!" Kurt turned his head away, although he was enjoying this interaction more than he'd ever admit—even to Mercedes. It was random, it was silly, but it was also exactly what he needed after such a long and depressing day.

"It's so much fun, Kurt! Come on!" Blaine urged, pushing his shoulder incessantly until his Kurt looked back at him. "Come on, come on, come _onnnn_."

"No." Kurt held his head up, holding back the laugh that was threatening to erupt from his chest. He said in a haughty voice, "I'm not four like _some people_ in this room."

"You don't have to drown it. You can just bite off its limbs one at a time. Or throw it across the room and then chase after it like a lion chase. Or run over it with a Tonka Truck. Or—."

"You're certifiably insane, Blaine Anderson!" Kurt stared at him, but as soon as the words were out his lips curled upwards in a small smile. "There is something wrong with anyone who tortures little animal crackers and can list the various ways of doing so. There is something very wrong with you."

Blaine just looked at him, hazel eyes bright, and held a teddy graham to his mouth. "Open."

Kurt shook his head, pursing his lips together. Yes. He was really enjoying this.

"Kurt, come on. Just eat it."

Kurt hesitantly took the graham cracker from his boyfriend and blinked at the older boy.

"Good. Okay. Now bite off his leg." Blaine still had that adorable grin and was nodding eagerly.

" _Fine_." Kurt glared and bit off it's leg. "Happy?"

"Oh, you didn't even make sound effects. Come _on_ , Kurt." Blaine stuck his lip out in an adorable pout. "For me?"

"Uh… argh?" he bit off an arm.

Blaine fell back onto the bed and almost rolled off of it laughing so hard. "Do it again, do it again!"

"Oh my God, Blaine, you're like a four year old!" Kurt said, but he let himself laugh this time too. So what if now Blaine knew for a fact that he'd been enjoying this? And while Kurt had truly never tortured teddy grahams as a child, maybe it was kind of fun to play with your food.

"Please! Oh God, please! Come on, you know its fun! Fun and _delicious_!"

"I am too old for this, Blaine." Kurt resumed his fake attitude of superiority and pushed the bowl back at him.

" _Noooo_. Kurt, please." Blaine sat upright and, sitting so his legs were tucked under him, grabbed a teddy graham. "This one's name is Teddy."

"How original." Kurt snorted, but he watched the boy interestedly.

"No. I'm about to show you why killing teddy grahams is so cathartic. This is a very important life lesson, my love. Just listen. Teddy is the first boy to make me cry about my curls. And you know what I say to Teddy?"

"What?" Kurt tilted his head, eyes glue his boyfriend.

" _Fuck you_." He bit off the cracker's head, chewed, and swallowed. Then he ate the rest of it and grabbed another one. "Aaron said I was a midget." He bit off the cracker's legs. "Look who is short now!"

"Blaine!" Kurt laughed. "Why don't you make your teddy grahams do something sweet?" he reached out and took two. "This is Kurt and this is Blaine." He made them kiss.

"I think this is more amusing." Blaine took them and put them in a very naughty position, faking noises of passion. He was very bad at this, as well. He could mark off actor as a career possibility.

"You are such a boy, Blaine!" Kurt laughed and then gasped. "Hey! You just ate me!"

"Boys, shut up and go to bed!" Burt called from across the hall.

Kurt grabbed the bowl and set them on the floor, out of his reach, and just a little sad that their fun could not continue. They couldn't trust themselves to not get loud and Kurt didn't feel like pushing his dad's buttons quite yet. "Now finish your milk and get under the covers, Blaine."

Blaine leaned over and kissed him. "Do I have to? I'm not sleepy."

"Twenty minutes ago you were falling asleep on the couch, Blaine." The younger boy pointed out, but then returned the kiss.

"Because you were making me watch a special on leg warmers."

"It wasn't on leg warmers. You clearly weren't paying any attention." Kurt crawled under the covers and wriggled out of his pajama pants. "Don't give me that look. I'm keeping my boxers on."

Blaine let out an exasperated sigh and threw himself over the length of the bed dramatically, Kurt's legs under him. Kurt found himself wondering where all of Blaine's energy had come from. "Fine. I don't know why we can't have sex. Before, you wanted us to have sex and I was the one wanting to wait until no one was home."

"Now that I know Dad knows, it's just weird." Kurt tried to wiggle his legs free, but Blaine was too heavy for him. He wasn't in pain or anything, he just wanted his legs.

"Can't you just take it as acceptance?" Blaine tilted his head back to look up at Kurt, not moving in the slightest.

Kurt leaned over and fingered his hair. "I don't think that was what dad meant by bringing it up, Blaine."

Blaine groaned and let out an " _Oh, fine_." that was dramatic enough to rival Kurt's infamous one.

"C'mon, Blaine, get under the covers."

"Don't wanna. I'm sex deprived."

"Blaine…" Kurt rolled his eyes, biting back another laugh. Blaine definitely didn't need any encouragement when he acted like this.

"Don't wanna. I'm sex deprived." the older boy repeated in a whiny voice.

"Fine. Stay over the whole bed. But at least let me have my legs back."

"No."

" _Fine_ , Blaine, we'll have sex tomorrow!" Kurt exclaimed in a hushed whisper, throwing his hands into the air. "We'll have sex if you just get off of me. I'm starting to lose feeling in my legs!"

Blaine rolled off of his legs and crawled under the covers, sliding right up to his boyfriend and grinning adorably. "Excellent. And now I will let you sleep."

"Blaine?" Kurt whispered after a few minutes, just as Blaine was starting to drift to sleep.

The older boy moaned and rubbed his nose before whining, "What?"

"You left the light on."

"Crap."


	16. Chapter 16

"No, Finn!"

"But mom lets me steal food when she's waiting for other stuff to finish!"

" _No, Finn_!"

Finn shrugged, leaned over Kurt easily (after all, he was a giant), and got out a spoonful of macaroni and cheese.

" _Go. Away. Finn!"_ Kurt halfheartedly pushed at him, but both boys knew this would get him nowhere. At least, not until Kurt grew several more inches. He had a feeling, though, that he was very near done growing.

"Dude, I totally thought your boyfriend was cool until I went upstairs to put my crap up."

"I'm not talking to you." Kurt said haughtily, moving to elbow him. Finn could be very insufferable, especially when one was making dinner. It was one of the many reasons he had stopped making dinner almost every night. He would still help Carole, of course, but he was not a patient person when it came to Finn leaning over him every two minutes and stealing food. Patience was required around an oven.

"Did you know he likes Katy Perry?" Finn snorted, reaching over and getting another spoonful of macaroni and cheese.

"Gross! That was in your _mouth_! And—oh my God, Finn! You smell like smoke!" his voice rose and he spun to look at Finn, spoon raised.

"Puck smokes now. He was in my room earlier." Finn said in a rather smooth voice, but the initial look on his face gave it away. He saw Kurt's disbelieving face and backed away. "Don't tell mom! She'll go all psycho on me again! No, really, Kurt, please! The last time she went ballistic on me was over mismatched _socks_. I don't even want to think of how bad it would be if she knew-." He looked around carefully to make sure his mother hadn't slipped into the room and added in a whisper, " _I smoked_. I don't know what kind of baby she's having but it's making her crazy and, dude, I've got a feeling an alien invasion is involved."

"Have you ever heard of Emphysema? Lung cancer? Heart disease? Do you know how something like that can affect your football games, Finn? If you get Rachel knocked up, and get heart disease, and die, then your offspring will be… oh God, I don't even want to _think_ about the child you two would produce." Kurt shuddered.

"Trust me, dude, no chance of _that_ happening. She'll barely let my hand up –."

"Gay boy, Finn. Gay boy. If I wanted to hear about straight sex, I'd be straight." Kurt put his hands over his ears and began singing, "Lalalala!"

"Uh oh, someone's talking about sex." Blaine sang, walking into a room.

"Or lack thereof." Finn muttered. "Fine, Kurt." When Kurt lowered his hands, he continued. "But, seriously, dude, what is a guy supposed to _do_? At this point I'd settle for—."

" _Don't cry for me Argentinaaaa, the truth is I never left youuuuuu!"_ Kurt put his hands over his ears and began singing loudly again.

"No, really, Blaine, you're cool—."

"And totally and 100% gay. Now if you want to know how to get random guy's phone number without even seemingly trying, come talk to me." Blaine said quickly, but flashed him a charming smile.

"Get a lot of guy's phone numbers, do you, Blaine?" Burt chuckled walking into the house through the back door that was in the kitchen. He took his oily hat off and, with one look at Kurt, blinked between the two remaining boys. "Oh no, you're all talking about sex. He's doing that thing again. Hey, kid, you better not burn dinner. I'm hungry."

" _I kept my promiiiiise, don't keep your distaaaance_." Kurt sang.

"Whatever. If you have to cook anything again, I'm going to KFC." Burt ruffled Kurt's hair and left the room.

"Katy Perry, dude? Really?" Finn asked, looking at Blaine. His voice dropped when Kurt stopped his singing. "You just lost, like, so many cool points."

"I _love_ Katy Perry!" Blaine gasped. "How can anyone _not_ love Katy Perry?"

"Kurt doesn't like Katy Perry." Kurt muttered, stirring the mashed potatoes.

"No, but you tolerate her and I'm thankful." Blaine walked to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "This smells wonderful."

"Thank you. Now please tell Finn why he should quit smoking, Blaine. He is seeing no reason." Kurt turned and quickly kissed him before turning his attention back to the food.

"Ah, you're making mashed potatoes! Awesome!" Blaine grinned. "Ugh, peas."

"Dad likes them, for whatever reason. Now, please, talk to Finn. He thinks you're cool, maybe he'll listen to you."

"He already knows, dude." Finn put his hands in his jeans pocket.

" _What_?" Kurt set down the spoon and spun to look at Blaine.

" _Actually_ ," Blaine said, reaching over him to turn one of the burners off. "I forgot."

"How do you forget someone is killing themselves?" the youngest boy asked impatiently. Blaine pursed his lips together and did not answer. Kurt knew that meant it had something to do with his attack, so he didn't pursue the matter. Instead, he added, "Well can you talk to him? Otherwise I'll have to tell Carole and none of us want to set her off again after last night's window incident."

"Window incident?" Finn asked.

"I left my car window cracked a bit on accident and it rained." Blaine shrugged. "Apparently it was very irresponsible and I was failing to take care of my things. I still can't believe she got onto me. I felt seven again. Burt tried to tell her it was _my_ car and I could do as I pleased but—."

"But it's a good thing that Dad doesn't have a hand print across his face still, otherwise work would have been rather interesting." Kurt chirped and then gently pushed Blaine. "I've got to get the chicken out of the oven, scoot over for me."

"Yes, sir." Blaine moved out of his boyfriend's way, trying very hard to not pay attention to the way his pants clung to his butt as he leaned over to get the chicken out.

Finn sat on the counter just as Carole came in. Her eyes narrowed. "Finn Hudson! Why are you sitting on our counter?"

"Oh god, not again." Finn moaned as he hopped down. "Please, mom, don't go all crazy on me. Go crazy on Kurt! Look, his shoe lace is undone. Isn't that super dangerous? That's super dangerous, man."

"Don't you try to pin this off on Kurt! Do you know how much that counter _costs_? We're still paying for it!"

"Sorry, mom." Finn put his hands in his pants pockets and looked at her sheepishly.

Carole sent him a nasty look and then went to Kurt. "Thank you for making dinner, hon. This looks delicious."

Kurt smiled at her. "I figure I better start cooking again. I have a feeling in June I'll be doing it a lot."

"I can't believe it's already the middle of March." She sighed and ruffled Blaine's hair. "You two are going to be moving out soon."

"Hey, I already moved out!" Finn frowned.

"Yes, but you're classroom building is twenty minutes away, Finn, and you always stay at home when you don't have anything football related. Kurt will be two hours away and we won't get to see him. Or Blaine."

"Oh, you'll get to see us." Blaine assured her. "I don't think Burt would let Kurt leave if he wasn't going to make us drive back at least once a week."

"Are you sure you two don't want to go to OSU? It's in Lima and you can live at home, not work, save money…" This had been a question that was becoming more frequently asked over the last few weeks. It had been asked even more since Kurt and Blaine had gone to the Katy Perry concert and had to stay at a hotel overnight—because there was no way Burt wanted them driving back so late. Carole apparently did not like a house without all three of her boys, but when they were all gone, well that was just awful.

"Carole," Kurt spoke in a firm but gentle voice. "We are very sure we do not want to go to OSU. Blaine loves UK. He likes the English program, he's made good friends, and he already has two jobs waiting for him. And I'm studying fashion design. I can't do that at OSU and CCAD is the closest college to home that will allow me enough real practice that I can make it in the future."

Carole sighed. "I don't like that you two will be so far away. You're both tiny little things. What if something happens?"

"I'm an excellent kicker." Blaine gave her an adorable grin.

She rolled her eyes and ruffled his hair again. "You're too adorable for your own good, Blaine. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Hey now, mom, that isn't fair!" Finn frowned even more. "You were being all mean to me a minute ago and then you go over to the little people and start being all nice!"

"Well, Finn," Carole glared. "Maybe if you get your literature grade up, I'll be nice to you too."

"It's just a literature class. Books and essays are stupid anyway." Finn muttered.

Blaine's jaw dropped and his eyes widened. " _What did you just say?"_

"That essays are dumb?"

"Finn, do you know what Blaine is majoring in?" Kurt asked sweetly as he reached into the cabinet—on his tip toes—and grabbed five plates down from the second shelf. This was going to be _good_.

Finn shrugged. "Musical theater or something? I dunno."

"English, actually. Now you can prepare to hear his monologue on the top 100 reasons why literature is important. You better make yourself comfortable; it's a very long monologue. Just ask Wesley." Kurt positively beamed as he set the five plates down at the table and Blaine launched into his rant.

"Literature is a way of gaining culture and enriching you life, Finn! It's extremely important! It gives you a better sense of imagination, it makes your arguments in life more well spoken, it enriches your knowledge of things around you—like culture a-and politics and human rights and _everything_! It helps you make connections with the world around you in ways you wouldn't have done otherwise! Literature lets you see things from another person's perspective and promotes open-mindedness—"

As Blaine rambled on, Kurt ticked off the points he was making on his fingers. Finn just kind of stared at him as if he had no idea what the boy was saying. Then again, most people that were not Kurt would have trouble understanding his passionate ramblings. Not even Carole had seen Blaine get into heated discussions before. It was something that Kurt prided himself on, being able to completely understand Blaine in those heated moments. Not to mention, there was something _extremely_ sexy about the way his hands wildly gestured when he got excited.

"And open-mindedness, in our society, stops things like what happened to Kurt from happening to people. Open-mindedness could prevent _war_ , Finn. Literature helps us deal with the things around us. Studying literature makes you a more articulate writer, speaker, and thinker! Without it, there would be no insight or understanding of… of human nature! The more you understand, the more you _know_! How is that not important?"

"You're telling me a book is going to keep bad things from happening?" Finn said doubtfully.

"Not the book itself, but what the book creates. It's cause and effect!"

"Doesn't he sound so smart?" Kurt said proudly, gently pushing Blaine to the table.

Blaine continued his defensive speech as he was sat down. "You know why I sound smart, Finn? I _read_. I re-read books. And if I don't know what something means, I look it up. And read an _essay_ about it. See? Literature is important."

Carole sat next to him and patted his shoulder. "See, Finn? You should try harder in your class. Blaine makes a very valid point."

"Sorry." Blaine muttered, suddenly embarrassed at his rant. He busied himself with drinking his water as Kurt put a plate down in front of him. "Thanks."

"Don't apologize, it's cute!" Kurt kissed his cheek. "Isn't he cute?"

"Very cute." Carole nodded and Burt just grunted.

"No, really. What is _wrong_ with you? Do you have that disorder disease?"

Kurt set two more plates down, eyebrow arching, and finally sat down next to Blaine. "Disorder disease?"

"Man, you know, the one where you're different people?"

The doorbell rang and Burt stood, snorting. "I think you mean Multiple Personalities Disorder, kid. I'll get that."

"Yeah, that. Like, does the sporty you have a different name? Which one is Blaine?"

"Finn, he doesn't have multiple personalities. Just because he doesn't fit into your perfect stereotypical box does not mean he—." Kurt began, but was cut off.

"Kurt, I need you out here!"

"Mercedes must be here for that $20 I owe her. I'll be back." Kurt stood and made his way to the kitchen calling back, "Don't harass my boyfriend when I'm gone, Finn!"

He made it to the living room and saw his dad with the two familiar police officers. His palms immediately began to sweat, his heart began to race, and breathing became just a little harder.

"Hi, Kurt." The taller of the two officers greeted him with a nod. "How are you?"

"Uhm… I'm fine." Kurt mumbled, looking anxiously at his dad. He felt a rush of gratitude when his father squeezed his shoulder, standing very close to him. How had he ever been so mean to his dad all those weeks ago? He really had the best father in the world.

"You might want to sit down, Kurt." The other officer said gently.

Kurt took a deep breath and, in a surprisingly steady voice, spoke. "I'm fine. What do you need?"

Burt squeezed his shoulder again.

"It's… about the trial. You won't have to testify, Kurt."

Kurt let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank God." Burt sighed as well. "Thank God."

"There's… more. It's about the boy that was attacked right after you, Kurt. He… died last night."

Kurt's stomach knotted up and Burt's hand was suddenly squeezing his shoulder so hard that it was painful. Any relief he felt immediately left his body and he felt like he couldn't breathe. "I need to sit down."

"Carole, please come in here!" Burt called, steering Kurt to the couch. "Alone!"

Carole rushed in. "What on Earth is going on—Kurt? Are you okay?"

"That boy. He died." Burt said gruffly as Kurt stared ahead blankly.

Carole immediately took a seat by Kurt and pulled him close. "Oh, sweetie… hon." She whispered, stroking his hair.

"What does… what does this mean for…" Burt began, but he didn't know how to even finish the statement. He was suddenly very overwhelmed. The very people that had hurt his son had _killed_ someone. What if Kurt was the one that had just died after months on life support?

"Mom, what's going on?" Finn called worriedly from the kitchen.

"Not right now, hon!" Carole called back.

"I want Blaine." Kurt whispered hoarsely. "Can… I'm… I'm going to get Blaine and get some… some water or something. Okay?"

Carole looked hesitantly at the police officer, but the man nodded, so she nodded also. "Go on, sweetheart."

Kurt stood and, legs feeling like jelly, made his way to the kitchen. He just needed a hug and he'd be fine. He just wanted Blaine next to him, arms around him, and he'd feel safe. He didn't have to make a long trip because Finn and Blaine were both already in the doorway.

"Kurt, what's going on? Kurt?" Blaine asked, face a little pale.

"Can you get me some water, Finn?" Kurt mumbled, and then threw himself at Blaine.

"Kurt, babe… what's wrong?" Blaine's voice was full of concern as he hugged his boyfriend.

Kurt didn't know how to even speak at that moment. He kept thinking back on every moment he'd had with Blaine since his attack, everything that had made them stronger, and how lucky he suddenly was to have even had them. He clung to Blaine, shaking slightly but not yet crying. He breathed in his boyfriend's scent—chocolate, of course—and clung to him even tighter, muttering, "Chocolate has never smelled so good."

Finn shared a worried look with Blaine as Kurt then couldn't fight off the tears and began to cry, gasping out and mumbling all sorts of words that neither boy could understand.

"Kurt, Kurt… Kurt, calm down and talk to me." Blaine whispered, rocking him. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

Kurt just pulled away from the hug and wiped his eyes, very quickly regaining his composure. It made Blaine uneasy. Kurt took his water, and, grabbing Blaine's hand with his free one, pulled him into the living room without a word. Finn followed, looking more confused than usual. Carole opened her arms and Kurt took his previous seat, allowing himself to be pulled into them. It was okay. Everything was okay. He was in his house, with his family, and in-between his stepmother and boyfriend. He was just fine. He kept telling himself that, and it made him feel a little better. He was okay. He _was_ okay.

"The three have pleaded out on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter charges. They'll spend 2 to 20 years in prison." One of the police officers was saying as Carole's arms went around him.

"Wait, you're telling me that before the boy died they faced a longer jail time than after the boy died?" Burt said loudly.

Blaine let out a quiet gasp, looking at Kurt. His hazel eyes were wide and his mouth fell open. Then he put his hand on Kurt's leg and gave it a tight squeeze, staring ahead. Kurt had the feeling he was thinking the same thing as he had been before that hug. What if it had been Kurt that died, and they hadn't been able to grow closer? What kind of life would that have been for Blaine?

"That… that is what it… may come down to." The man said slowly.

"They _murdered_ a boy." Burt said slowly. "Why would any judge let a deal like this pass through? That is _not right_."

"I understand your feelings on the matter but you aren't seeing the bigger picture. Of course, your son's and the other cases will be taken into account too… but…"

"But usually if it's against gay kids they don't care? That's what you're telling me? They just want to give them the lowest charge possible because the kids deserved it? Well, my son didn't deserve this!" the man pointed at Kurt. "Does he look like someone that deserved to almost die for walking to his damn car?"

"That is not what I am saying at all." The officer spoke very calmly. "I'm just saying, the murder will be the case that is looked at most heavily."

"This is messed up. You're telling me that the men who did this could be out of prison in two years?"

"With the additional charges that will be added on, it will be longer than that. Without a doubt." The other officer cut in. "Those extra felony charges will still be carried out."

"Yeah, and what's the minimum time limit on those?"

"Fifteen months each."

"Unbelievable." Burt began pacing, fists clenching. "So what you're telling me is that they could go to jail for two years for the murder, and 5 years for the assaults on Kurt and the other 3? That's seven years. That's not good enough. Because then you factor in getting out early for good behavior and—."

"Burt, please." Carole said in a hush voice, rocking Kurt who was eerily silent.

"No, Carole! That is not good enough for what they did! He could have died if that girl hadn't found him! That boy could have been my son!"

Carole stood with a sigh. Kurt leaned towards Blaine, needing him, as Carole dragged his father from the room. There were hushed angry whispers coming from the kitchen. The fact that his father wasn't in the room made him feel a little nervous, but Blaine's hand going up and down his back slowly eased his anxiety. Blaine's heart was pounding and that made Kurt feel guilty on top of anxious. He didn't want Blaine stressed out, didn't want him upset over something concerning him _again_.

Finn sat down on Kurt's other side in his mother's place and patted his younger brother's shoulder, staring ahead. Eventually their parents came back into the room, but Burt looked no less angry. Despite this, Kurt almost instantly felt more at ease with him in the room.

"So you're telling me that they could go to jail for 7 years?"

"As few as 7, but as long as 80." The officer said calmly.

"Realistically?" Burt urged.

"In two cases, the kids didn't even have to go to the hospital. Kurt's case will get a hefty amount, I'd say, as well as the boy who died. The other kid only suffered a broken arm and a doctor visit or two. Realistically… no more than 12."

Blaine began rocking Kurt, because his fists were clenched and he found himself unable to continue rubbing the smaller boy's back. Kurt made a small noise of protest, but still did not speak.

"Then what is the point of going through with a trial? If the punishment doesn't suit the crime, then why bother?" Blaine asked quietly, but bitterness was etched in his voice. "That's tons of money you're pouring into a case. Realistically, they've never done anything before the attacks. So they'll get out early. Or they'll get probation. No harm, no foul, right? Or they'll find some way to write off the other cases. Kurt just walked into that pole or the knee that sent his rib through his lung. That girl was provoking them when they jumped her. The kid with the broken arm had their arm at a weird angle and they accidentally walked into it. The other kids don't matter, because they didn't end up in a hospital. Why put these families through this for nothing? They throw out the other charges, make the jerks serve two years for _murdering an innocent 15 year old_ , and they get to go about their day to day lives in two years. What's the point?"

No one spoke for several minutes after that, but Kurt sat up straight and took a deep breath. "This is stupid. This is so stupid."

"What do we do now, officer?" Carole asked, reaching out to stroke Kurt's hair.

"Charges will be filed separately, but any sentencing will be on top of each other." The shorter officer said. "You'll need to file more charges in order to get Kurt's medical expenses covered and for pain and suffering, if you choose to."

"Oh, we choose to. Don't you worry about that." Burt growled. "Is that it?"

"Because they've pleaded out, no one will be testifying, but they will face a judge for sentencing on all 5 counts. It's… it's open to the public. It will be on June 7th."

June 7th, the day they were set to move down to Cincinnati because Blaine's classes started up on the 12th. Of course the attack that happened last October would put a damper on something _else_. It seemed to always come back and haunt him.

"Fine. Thank you very much." Burt said angrily, holding the door open for them. He closed it much harder than necessary and then stormed off. Carole continued running her fingers through Kurt's hair as she kissed his cheek and murmured. Blaine's arms were tight around him, and every so often he would pat this boy's lower back. Finn just stared ahead, jaw clenched and staring out the window as the policemen drove off.

"Oh, Kurt, come here!" Carole finally exclaimed, tears filling her eyes. Kurt stood and allowed her to pull him into a tight hug, her baby belly only slightly in the way. "I'm so glad you're okay, hon. I'm so glad. And you're handling this so maturely, sweetie. Oh, thank God you're alright."

Kurt wanted to say that he didn't _feel_ like he was handling it maturely. Because now he was wishing that his dad would come back. He slowly returned the hug, careful not to press too hard against her belly, and sighed softly.

"You really are. You're doing wonderfully." She whispered, rubbing his back. "How do you feel?"

"I'm… I'm… It just doesn't seem fair." He finally said softly, eyes raising to look at Blaine. Blaine looked right back at him, offering a weak and incredibly forced smile. He vaguely remembered that expression from last year, when he had been in the hospital. He hated that fake smile. He would have rather Blaine just stared at him blankly, to be honest.

"It's over now, though. You don't have to do anything else, Kurt. You don't have to testify." She whispered back to him, rocking them both. "It's all over now."

Kurt stared at Blaine, chewing the inside of his cheek.

_It's over now._

But was it really? Kurt didn't feel this intense sense of closure. There was no relief that he didn't have to testify. Maybe a part of him, a small part of him, wanted to look the man who almost killed him in the eye. And stand up straight so the man could see that he'd broken him, yes, but that he was still very much intact. Maybe he wanted to look the man in the eye as he told the judge what the man had done to him.

As much as Kurt dreaded it, and had thought that he _wanted_ to hear that he didn't have to testify… maybe he had wanted to. At any rate, he definitely didn't want the news to come like _this_. He would have rather that boy be alive and testify than the boy die and he not have to testify. It was hard to believe that the boy had _died_. Kurt had been hoping that one day the boy would just wake up and get the second chance at life that Kurt had gotten… It wasn't fair that one boy got a second chance, a young adult, but a teenage boy had to die. He had lived more, seen more… it just didn't seem fair.

"Oh, Kurt." Carole began to cry into his shoulder. He could feel her shoulder's shaking. "You poor, beautiful, sweet boy. I f-feel awful saying this but I'm so glad it w-wasn't you!"

"I'm fine." Kurt whispered, hugging her back. "I am. I'm fine." The more he said it the better he felt. Saying that was a little empowering. Then he remembered hearing that they could be out in as little as two years and that confidence flew right out the window.

They stood there for several minutes in their embrace before Carole finally pulled away. She touched his cheek and sniffled, eyes puffy. "Kurt, if you need to talk, you know I'm here, hon. And your father, Finn, and Blaine."

"I know." Kurt nodded. "I promise. I'll talk."

She squeezed his shoulder and nodded. "Okay. Okay. Now everyone needs to eat. We'll warm up the food in the microwave. I'll go get your father."

Kurt nodded and took in a deep breath as Carole left the room. Blaine flew at him, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in Kurt's shoulder.

"Oh my God, oh my God." He whispered over and over, squeezing the shorter boy. "I love you so much, Kurt. Please don't ever forget that."

"I won't." Kurt promised, hugging him back equally as tightly.

* * *

"Blaine?" Kurt came into their bedroom later that night after getting out of the shower and moisturizing his face. He had taken much longer than necessary while doing so because he kept thinking about the trial and how uneasy he was about the whole thing. At the same time though, he was puzzled by his reaction. A little over a month ago when he found out that his attackers had been caught, he had really had a mini breakdown. He had sobbed, he had held onto Blaine for what was probably hours, he had been inconsolable, and he had counted on Blaine to tell him what he should do.

This time, though, was a little different. Kurt had only cried once and he was starting to think that was more than the shock of the news that him being scared. After he had been consoled, he was okay. As okay as he could be, given the circumstances. He had a feeling he'd feel even better if everyone around him wasn't acting like the world had ended. Yes, this time was much different. Instead, he had several questions, each one more complicated than the one before it, and he felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. But he wasn't begging his boyfriend to tell him what to do. He was thinking about it on his own, calmly, and in the privacy of his bathroom. Was that a little unnerving? Yes, because for months he had ran to Blaine with even the smallest problem. This time around, he felt like he needed to make the decision on his own. He just wanted reassurance, but he wanted to try to handle it as grown up as possible. After all, wasn't the point of his father's big talk that he needed to grow up? Well, he respected that and he was trying. Because he did need to grow up.

Once he got into the room he saw that the light was still on,—it was really only around nine anyway— but Blaine was in bed with his laptop and staring at the screen blankly. There was no way he was trying to think of what to type, the expression was too intent for that. It made Kurt feel bad to see him so emotionless, because he knew that meant Blaine was probably really upset. Upset or angry. He was still working on figuring out what those faces meant. "I thought you were writing a paper."

"I can't concentrate." Blaine shut his laptop and let out a frustrated sigh. He shook his head, his expression changing from blank to anger. There was no mistaking that look. The past three hours had been like that for everyone in the household, though. One minute they'd look fine, the next minute they'd look upset or angry. The mood swings had been drastic—especially for Finn who would be laughing at cartoons one minute and angrily kicking his shoes or backpack around the next, eyes narrowed. Well, almost everyone. His father was the only one to not experience these mood swings because he maintained one emotion throughout the entire evening and it would probably carry into the next day as well.

Burt was the only one who maintained a steady emotion—and that emotion was _pissed_. The only time his expression softened was for a few brief minuets when, while they were watching the news story covering the boy's death, Kurt leaned over and rested his head on his father's shoulder. Burt wrapped his arm around his son, pulling him closer, and pressed a quick kiss to the top of the boy's head. After that, he kept his chin rested on the top of Kurt's head but he maintained his stony glare at the television screen until finally he went to go check on Carole who had had a little too much stress for the day and had, understandably, retired to bed. The fact that her morning sickness was turning into morning, noon, and night sickness did not help either.

"I'm so pissed off…" Blaine continued shaking his head. "So pissed off."

"Blaine?" he asked again quietly, crawling onto the bed and sitting next to him. He was hesitant to approach him because he knew how Blaine could get when he was angry, but at the same time he felt like it would be better to distract his boyfriend before he got even angrier. Besides, he really wanted to discuss his feelings with the boy. It wasn't that he wanted input on what he should do or anything. He just wanted to be able to talk. If Blaine offered feedback, great. If not, that was fine because he wasn't looking for it.

"Yeah?" Blaine looked at him, hazel eyes meeting blue.

Kurt pursed his lips together and looked down, suddenly unsure he wanted to actually say what was on his mind. He wasn't sure how Blaine would react and he wasn't sure if it was what he truly felt either. But then he decided _screw it_ and held his head high. He was going to be grown up about this. At least, he was really going to try. "Blaine… do you think… that I should go?"

"Go where?"

"The trial. Sentencing. That thing. Do you think I should go?" he repeated. His voice did waver slightly, but at least he had asked the question that would lead into the discussion. It was much better than keeping it in and beating himself up for it later.

"Of course not. You didn't want to testify to begin with. Why would you?"

Kurt leaned back against the headboard and pulled his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them. "Because I…. think that I want to."

Blaine's response was instant and sharp. "I don't think that's a very good idea, Kurt."

Kurt felt himself get a little annoyed at how fast Blaine rejected the idea. After all, it was concerning _him_ and not Blaine. He made a face at Blaine, which made the older boy look slightly guilty, and then he asked the question that was really on his mind. "How am I supposed to feel right now? Am I supposed to be happy that this kid is dead and I don't have to testify? Relieved? Am I supposed to cry for him, even though I didn't know him? Am I supposed to just say, 'Okay, well that's done, next step graduation'? Am I supposed to be okay with the fact that they may only be in jail for two years? Am I supposed to be mad off and on like you and Finn or mad all the time like Dad? Am I just in shock?" he took a deep breath. "I don't know what to do, Blaine. I… I don't know what to do or what to think or how to feel."

Blaine reached over and took his hand, his expression softening. "I don't know what to think either…"

Kurt struggled to find the words, but he felt better with Blaine holding his hand so tightly. He felt safe almost. He tried to explain what he was feeling, but he wasn't even sure of what exactly he was feeling himself. "I don't feel closure… I feel like… " He squeezed Blaine's hand and looked at the door. "I don't know what I feel, but… but part of me wants to see them. Even if they may only be in jail for two years… I just want to… to see them. Blaine, I just don't know. I don't know. Why don't I know?"

Blaine scooted closer and wrapped an arm around him. "I don't know, my love." He whispered. "But if… if you really want to see them when they're given their sentence… then you should. Even if I don't think it's the best idea. I'm afraid your nightmares will come back. You've said yourself several times that you didn't want a faces to go with the attack, Kurt. I don't think you should just write that off."

Kurt spoke very slowly and in a calm voice. "They almost killed me… I had to have surgery twice because of them. I missed out an almost half of my senior year of high school. Sometimes I still feel these sharp pains in my chest if I sit up too quickly. They did this to me. They did all of that to me. And… and I want to stand up to them and show them—and myself— that they can't take anything else from me… They took enough, Blaine, and I want to see them pay for what they did. Even if it's just a two year sentence, I want to… I want to see it happen. And I want them to see that… that I'm not broken anymore."

His boyfriend bit his lip and sighed softly, looking away. "Look, I know you've got the right intentions… but, baby… you jumped across half a room when you just heard the man _speak_. I don't want you to push yourself into anything before you're ready, Kurt, because that is worse than not doing the thing in the first place."

"You're supposed to understand." Kurt pulled his hand back and got out of the bed. "You are supposed to be the one person to understand, to get me, to get _it_."

"I do understand, Kurt. I just don't want you to get hurt again… there are only so many times I can pick up the pieces and put them back together again right. I don't want to test those limits. I don't want you to drive yourself crazy with pictures of the guys in your head. _I_ wouldn't want to know what they looked like if it were me."

"Well I'm my own person." This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Blaine was supposed to wrap his arms around Kurt and tell him that he _should_ go see his attackers. That it was a good idea and that he fully supported it. Why wasn't Blaine doing that like he was supposed to?

"Don't get defensive or upset, babe." Blaine crawled to the edge of the bed, grabbing both of Kurt's hands. "Do whatever you want. Of course if you want to go, you should go. But I'm telling you my opinion because I care about you… so please don't get upset. If you want to go, I'll be right there next to you. When have I ever not stood right next to you? Tell me when." He let one of Kurt's hands fall and cupped his face, giving him a small smile. "You know I'll be right there by you."

Kurt sighed and sat on the bed. He put his hand on his face and just shook his head in a defeated way. "I'm not upset with you… I'm upset because I've already thought of everything you said and that is what scares me and makes me think I shouldn't go…" He turned and looked at his boyfriend, squeezing his hand. "I wish I knew what the right thing to do here is…"

Blaine leaned against him, resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder and still gripping his hand. "I don't think there is a right and wrong thing to do… If you want to go, you should go. If you don't want to go, then you _really_ shouldn't go. But neither choice will be the wrong one unless it's not what you want."

"What if I don't know what that is?" Kurt whispered, leaning into him as well.

"It's March. The sentencing is in June. You've got a lot of time to figure it out, my love… and you may change your mind a few times too, but that's okay. You'll know the morning of the sentencing what the right decision is." Blaine scooted into a laying position, pulling Kurt gently with him. "I can't believe that kid died, Kurt… I just… keep thinking about how you looked when I first saw you and—." He trailed off, but Kurt heard him sigh heavily. "I hope they rot in hell for what they did, Kurt. I really hope they do."

"It… doesn't seem fair that he died and not me." Kurt whispered, curling up and resting his head on Blaine's chest. "He was so young…"

There was a loud growl and then Kreacher hopped onto the bed. He wriggled himself in-between the boys (which took some serious skill considering they were pressed together) and made himself comfortable.

"Ugh, that dog." Blaine moaned. "He's driving me crazy, Kurt. He chewed up my phone charger again."

"I told you to keep it on the desk." Kurt responded, sitting up and pulling Kreacher onto his lap. Kreacher began licking his face and yipping excitedly, tail wagging. "I missed you too! Even if Daddy didn't! I missed you too! Say, _Blaine, I'm really sorry I ate your charger but I loooove you_. See, Blaine? He's sorry." He lifted the dog, who barked loudly and tried to run in the air.

Blaine just rolled his eyes, but he smiled a bit. "The dog is a nuisance."

"So is your snoring, but I don't make _you_ sleep in a cage. Isn't that right, Kreacher? Isn't that right?" The younger boy snuggled his dog. He knew it was silly, but the puppy really did make any situation better. Kurt didn't care how many belongings Kreacher destroyed, because his puppy had completely won over his heart.

"I have no one to blame but myself and that's the sad thing." Blaine sighed, finally reaching to pet the dog. "He is getting so fat, Kurt. We've got to stop feeding him so much."

"He likes his treats." Kurt cooed, rocking Kreacher as if he was a child. The dog surprisingly went very still, just panted happily. "Good puppy."

Blaine rolled his eyes again. "I liked it better when he was hiding under the bed."

Kreacher growled, tilting his head to look at Blaine and then he returned his attention to Kurt who was still cooing. "Oh, daddy didn't mean that. Ignore the curly headed mean old man."

"I take back that we're getting a second dog after graduation. We're getting a cat. A mean one."

"Shh." Kurt whispered, shooting him an impatient look. "He's going to go to sleep if you shut up."

"I don't believe you are rocking that insufferable demon animal to sleep." Blaine muttered, but he just pulled the covers up to his chin.

Kurt's eyes met Blaine's as he rocked the dog. He really had no idea how he had ended up with someone as impossibly gorgeous as Blaine Anderson, but if there was any sort of God, Kurt definitely thanked them. It was crazy how Blaine had come into his life, so seemingly random, and yet nothing would _ever_ be the same. Had it been fate that made him drive the two hours to Dalton to spy? Or was it just sheer dumb luck? Whatever it was, Kurt was very thankful for his boyfriend. He couldn't imagine life without him.

He looked down and his puppy was finally asleep. He gently laid him down at the foot of the bed and then curled back up to Blaine. He knew that their talk had been cut short by their incessant dog, but he found that he didn't really want to talk about the trial or the boy's death anymore. He was secretly glad for the excuse to not have to talk anymore, because, for the first time ever, talking something over with Blaine had not made him feel better. He didn't feel worse… but he didn't feel better, and wanted the conversation to end before it _did_ get worse. Maybe tomorrow or the next day they would resume their conversation and hopefully, after a night of sleep, it would have a different outcome. But for the moment all he wanted to do was curl up to Blaine and just forget everything. And that was what he did.


	17. Chapter 17

"Oh my God."

Kurt looked up from his science worksheet, confused. They were both seated at the kitchen table and silently working on homework a week before Blaine's birthday. Blaine's leg was tangled in-between Kurt's, although Kurt didn't quite remember how exactly they had ended up that way. He wasn't complaining, though. Not at all. "Huh?"

"Oh my God." His boyfriend repeated, covering his mouth. He leaned closer to his computer, face scrunched up in confusion, and then leaned back. "Oh. My. Fucking. God. Does it ever end? No, really. Does it ever end?"

Kurt got up from his seat and went to stand behind Blaine, leaning over him to see the screen. His UK email address, which he still used to keep in touch with people, was open.

_Blaine, forget a career in law. You need to go into the CIA or something because you were damn near impossible to find. I've been trying to find you for, like, three months. It's Alex and we need to talk. We just had that annual meeting about the inheritance and all. I don't want to go into it over the internet, but the most information I could get out of your little hyper Asian friend was your email to look you up. I found him on Facebook through the Dalton network. Gay? Really? You're_ gay? _I wish I'd been there to see Dad's face when you told him that. I also wish I'd been there to stop you because, really, that was probably the stupidest thing you'll ever do in your life. I freaked out a little when Dad told me that earlier today. I had known something went down in October, but they weren't saying much. Your friend said you were living with your boyfriend? And Dad said you dropped out of school? I know we don't know each other that well but, Blaine, that isn't you at all. You're too smart to not go to school. I really hope there is more to the story and, knowing Mom and Dad, there probably is. Are you okay, though? They seriously cut you off? That is fucked up. I hope you're alright. I know that we don't talk all that much but you're still my brother and, believe it or not, I still care even if our shitty parents don't. We've got to talk, Blaine... Answer me over here and I'll give you my phone number or something. I'll be down in Lima in a few days to visit Mom and Dad again (sounds fun, doesn't it?) before heading back to Italy and maybe we can meet and get dinner or something. Without mom and dad of course. I'll bring the baby. You'll think he's adorable. He's got your hair. But, really. We_ have _to talk. It's about your inheritance. I really can't say it over the internet because who knows who is hacking into our computers or some shit (is that possible? Mom says it is I've never been too great with technology though). Trust me though, brother, you'll want to hear this. So do_ not _cue your drama stuff. Just answer the email, okay? Preferably sooner rather than later. Holding onto this shit is making me nervous._

_Alex_

"Woah." Kurt said, eyes wide. "Your brother's been trying to find you?"

"I can't do this." Blaine shut the laptop. "I'm not answering it. How could Wes give him my email? There is a reason I made it so people cannot look me up on Facebook anymore and this is _it_. So my family can't find me and pull some stupid shit like this!"

"Blaine… the email sounded sincere." The younger boy said quietly, reaching to grab his hand. While he had definitely heard several bad things about Blaine's parents, he had honestly never heard anything bad about his brother. He just knew that there was a twenty year age difference and that the man lived in Italy with "some floozy." The way he sounded in the email did not line up with the way that his brother had been portrayed, at least not in Kurt's mind. The man really did sound concerned for Blaine's wellbeing, too. He sounded worried and that message had a definite tone of urgency to it.

Blaine quickly pulled his hand away and stood. "Of course it does! Of course it _sounds_ that way, Kurt! Don't those nice family pictures plastered at campaign times look sincere too? Well, they aren't! Everything in my family is about putting up a front!"

"Don't yell at me and don't get upset." Kurt put his hands on Blaine's shoulders and looked him in the eyes, trying his hardest to offer some sort of comfort. He didn't know how to though. It was hard to get through to Blaine, though, when he worked himself up like is. Very hard. And he had worked himself up _so quickly._ He had literally gone from 0 to 100 in one second flat. "Calmly talk to me so I can help you and so I can understand, okay?"

The distressed looked on Blaine's face tugged at Kurt's heartstrings. The older boy seemed to have calmed himself down and he moaned, "This is just bullshit."

"No, that is not helping me understand anything, Blaine. Why are you so upset? It's not like he's your mom or dad."

"Because they're all the same." Blaine said miserably. "I don't know why they would even try to pull him into this. Why? We… We barely even know each other! Why would he even _want_ to be involved?What is their motive now? _Can't they just leave me alone?_ "

"Babe… if you barely even know each other, then… then maybe he's not been pulled into anything. From that email, it sounds like there are a lot of gaps in the story he has. I don't think you should write that email off as an attempt to 'pull shit.' I think—."

"Absolutely not. I'm not answering." Blaine cut him off, covering his face and sighing. "No."

"Blaine, I think you're freaking out a bit and overreacting…"

"No, Kurt. You're not listening to me. You don't know what my family is like. They're not good people and you're being incredibly naïve to think that anything good will come from answering that email. I should block the email address, delete the email so I can't ever answer it, and then change _my_ email."

Yes. Blaine was approaching a freak out. Very quickly approaching it, too. "Baby, sit down. Come on, let's sit down."

"I don't want to sit down, Kurt."

" _Fine_. I'll sit you down then." Kurt scooted Blaine back to his chair and pushed him gently into it. Blaine moved to get up, but Kurt sat on his lap and turned so he was facing Blaine, his leg dandling on either side of Blaine's.

Blaine hung his head. "My parents were _awful_ , Kurt. I don't know why you want to make me get involved with the again. I don't understand why you don't understand."

"I know that your _parents_ are awful, Blaine. Don't I have a scar on my side to prove that? I want you to make me understand why your _brother_ is awful." The younger boy whispered, tilting his chin up so they were looking into each other's eyes.

"He just _is_."

Kurt stroked Blaine's warm cheek with the back of his hand and pressed their foreheads together. "I think you should answer that email, Blaine. I think we should go meet him—we'll take my Dad, too—and we'll go see what he has to say. If at any point you feel uncomfortable, we'll get right up and leave… He already said your parents wouldn't come."

"If they find out, they'll try." Blaine protested.

"Get his phone number and call him." Kurt moved his hand to Blaine's messy hair. "Make sure that he knows your parents are to _not_ find out, that way they can't come and bother you. My dad won't let anything happen to you, Blaine. We'll make sure that he goes with us."

"Kurt, I haven't seen my brother in _years_. I don't know how I feel about this."

Kurt turned so he was facing the laptop and opened it and spoke gently. "Answer him now. The worst thing that can happen is we turn around and leave, right?"

"Or he could give me a summons to court for UK's tuition." Blaine muttered.

"And then I'll sue your dad's ass for my surgery and hospital stay. Blaine, we've got the upper hand here. Don't you see that? You could run that entire family into the ground if you came out and let slip to someone about what they put you through. If any Anderson in the family needs to worry, it is your grandmother for covering things up and your father for abusing you and sending you to that awful camp. And that is the exact reason they haven't cut off your phone or your insurance or argued for that money back. They know that _you_ are in a position of power right now. You've got more power than a woman running for Senate, Blaine."

"I would never do that though, Kurt."

Kurt scoffed. "Because you're too nice. Their problem is they don't _know you_ enough to know that. Babe, they aren't going to try to pull anything because you could turn their life upside down with just two sentences. I don't think your brother is here to try to do anything to you, Blaine. I think he's doing this because he, like he said, really does have something important to talk to you about. And I don't know about _you_ , but if there was a possibility of how many million dollars on the line? I'd be down there finding out what he knows within ten minutes."

"I don't want that money. It's stupid money. It's just stupid money." Blaine glared at the computer screen. "I hate money, Kurt. I hate it. It's just stupid money."

"But it's _your_ stupid money." The younger boy pointed out. "Don't let your family take something else from you, Blaine. Haven't they taken enough?"

Kurt had a point.

* * *

"Think he's going to not show up?" Burt asked gruffly, looking around the nearly empty restaurant. He didn't exactly know what was going on. Blaine had just stared into space while Kurt explained that his brother needed to get into touch with him and that there were concerns that things could turn foul. He had, of course, agreed to go with the boys. After the last Anderson family confrontation, he was a little wary of Blaine seeing any of them at all. He wasn't the only one though because his son's boyfriend seemed nervous about the situation as well.

"He's always late." Blaine sighed, sipping on the soda that Kurt had bought for him. It was a distraction, at least, from the anxiety attack he felt like he was about to have. He'd never had one before but his chest was pounding, his palms were sweating, and it nearly hurt to breathe.

The door opened and a man that was just a little taller than Blaine came in, balancing a chubby baby boy with curly black hair on his hip. He looked around, saw Blaine at the table, and immediately headed over. "You look the same as you did 3 years ago, Blaine."

Blaine kind of stared at him, not knowing what to say. His brother looked the same too. Alex had taken after his mother, and his skin was much darker. His hair was straighter naturally, but it was cut very short. What surprised Kurt the most, though, was that he was just in jeans and a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. He had been under the impression that everyone in Blaine's family was always neatly dressed. The baby waved happily, squealing, and then put his fat first into his mouth. He was positively adorable, Blaine had to admit.

"No, Danny. No." Alex reached down and tugged the hand out. "It is so hard to keep him from doing that. I don't understand the appeal. Are you going to at least say hello or just stare at me like a fish the whole time?"

"Uh hi." Blaine said awkwardly. He felt Kurt's hand slide into his under the table, squeezing gently. He felt a big rush of gratitude sweep over him and he gave Kurt a small smile. Kurt smiled back, squeezing Blaine's hand again.

Alex introduced himself to both Burt and Kurt, shaking their hands, and sat down with his baby on his lap. "First, why weren't you at the meeting? You _know_ you're supposed to be present at each meeting after you turn eighteen, Blaine. I had to sign for you, but you need to call Jake so he can forward your stuff on."

"W-What?"

His brother focused on him, looking shocked. "When you turn 18, you start to receive 10% of the interest quarterly. Didn't our father tell you? Danny, put that napkin down. _Now._ Or just put it in your mouth, okay."

"Dad told me that I was cut off." Blaine answered quietly, not really sure why he would have to go to any meetings considering he wasn't getting any money. His eyes trailed to the baby, who Alex kept calling Danny. Danny banged one chubby fist on the table and pointed straight at Kurt with his other hand, face lighting up.

Kurt smiled and leaned over, but did not let go of Blaine's hand. "Hello there, Danny."

The baby let out a loud squeal and jerked back happily.

"I think he likes you." Alex laughed, turning his attention to Kurt. "Well, he likes everyone. But he doesn't usually get _this_ excited. Would you like to hold him?"

"Can I?" Kurt asked eagerly, eyes lighting up in a way that would have melted Blaine's heart if he hadn't been so nervous. He would have to remember to think about it later, when he could straight two thoughts together properly..

"Yeah, sure! Just keep a tight hold on him. He likes to try to crawl away. I can't tell you how many times he's crawled off of someone's lap and right into the floor when they looked away for two seconds. He's very mischievous." Alex handed his son over.

Kurt immediately began bouncing the baby on his lap and cooing over his curly hair. Blaine really wished, though, that Kurt was still holding his hand. It had made him feel better. He was incredibly nervous about this meeting. He hadn't seen his brother in years, barely knew the guy, and when you looked at the rest of Blaine's family it was easy to see why he would be so hesitant.

"I bet he's a handful." Burt chuckled.

"Oh, you have _no_ idea. I don't know where all the energy comes from, either. He just sits up in his room all night and makes loud noises." Alex sighed and looked at Blaine. "Dad said what now, Blaine?"

"He told me that if I didn't go home with him that I was cut off and wouldn't get my inheritance. I didn't go home." He bit his lip anxiously and looked around the table, briefly meeting Burt's eyes. The man gave him a small nod, but Blaine wasn't really sure what it meant. He assumed it was meant to be comforting though and he relaxed a little.

"Just try to think this through for a few minutes, Blaine. You're a smart kid, it'll come to you. That inheritance is in _whose_ name?" Alex asked calmly, eyeing him.

"Well… mine, but…" Blaine spoke slowly. He wasn't in a position to really think _anything_ through at the moment. Here he was talking to his brother who he hadn't seen in years while his boyfriend bounced a tiny little baby up and down, cooing. Not only that, but he felt extremely sick to his stomach. He was past the point of logical thinking; he kept waiting for proof that he'd been right in not wanting to come. This was going too smoothly and he'd said more in five minutes than he'd said to his brother in seven years.

"If it is _yours_ , Blaine, how can he touch it?" he opened his diaper bag and pulled out a big folder. "Here. I got this for you from Jake."

"What is it?" Blaine took it, opening it up.

Alex moved his seat over so he was at the edge of the table, closer to Blaine, and set it down flat on the table. "These are the papers stating that the interest on your inheritance will be sent out to you quarterly. That's why it was so important that I see you. You need to get an account for this or send Jake your current bank account numbers. As of now, the money is just going right back into the inheritance. But… but it sounds like you might need it." He explained. "There's some stuff for you to sign. Jake highlighted it all for you, though. You need to get it in soon, Blaine. The next interest payment will be in mid May. If you get it in too late, you won't get anything in until September."

" _No_. Dad cut me off. How can I make interest on something that isn't mine anymore?"

"What I'm saying to you, Blaine, is that money isn't Dad's to take back. It's a family inheritance. See, this is why you should have come with us last year to the meeting. It would make more sense. It is split down evenly among family members. That's how it was written up in the will."

"But grandma—."

"It is the _Anderson_ family inheritance. Grandma isn't even technically an Anderson, she married into the family. When Grandpa died… I mean, _his_ account transferred to her name, yes. But while his name was on ours, those accounts are still _ours_. Only Grandpa could change it. Grandma can't change where that money goes. It's been in the family for years. Look, your name is on these papers _. Blaine Wyatt Anderson._ The full 4.7 million—."

Burt let out a low whistle, eyes widening.

"Won't be released to us until she dies. The second you've got a death certificate, though, you can go to the nearest PNC Bank and cash out the whole thing if you want. But the interest you'll get now… you can _easily_ live off that until the old lady croaks..." Alex continued. "I mean, I'm not saying you should go willy nilly and buy everything you want. Really, it won't even be enough interest to do too much unless you save it for a few years. But… if you wanted to move out, it'd help you out with rent and shit."H

"Wait, you're saying that they can't take my inheritance away after Grandma dies? It won't go into Dad's name?" Blaine stared at the folder blankly, in shock. He hadn't known, before his father had shouted over the phone all those months ago, how much money he would have gotten. Blaine hadn't let it bother him that he'd lost out on 4.7 million dollars because he hadn't had it to miss before that. But now, knowing he was going to get something like that, he just couldn't even comprehend it. _4.7 million dollars_?

"You're 18, Blaine. When she croaks, that money is yours and no one else's. The only way you don't get that money is if you sign a paper saying you don't want it." His brother nodded and sighed. "Why did they cut you off? How long ago did this happen? They told me after New Years that you dropped out and ran off to have tons of sex with some gay boy. I didn't even know you were _gay_ , Blaine."

Blaine took a deep breath. "Kurt… got beat up pretty bad. He needed someone to take care of him. So I was taking a semester off. They… didn't take it well."

"Of course they didn't." he sighed again and shook his head. "So you're living with them? Are you okay with that, Blaine? You can come home with me if you want. I—."

"No." Blaine said quickly, voice raising a few notches. He realized this and lowered it, continuing. "I'm fine where I'm at. I'm doing a semester at OSU and next semester I'm going back to UK. Well, I'm taking some summer classes too. We're moving out together in June. And I… really like his family." He felt himself blush a tiny bit and made sure to not look at Burt.

"Wow." His brother leaned back. "That's… crazy. That you're getting so old and about to be living on your own."

Blaine chose to not mention that he'd been living on his own for a very long time, since he'd started at Dalton after the bullying escalated and his depression set in. His brother didn't know about _anything_ , really. Blaine had figured the boy knew he was gay, though. It was sad that his parents even hid the fact that he was gay from his own brother. Not that Alex knowing would have made a difference. They just didn't talk. That was their relationship. He doubted he'd ever talk to Alex again after this.

Kurt put his hand on his leg and squeezed, just like Blaine had done for him so many times. Danny crawled onto Blaine's lap and sat down, or rather plopped in an attempt to sit, and clapped. Everyone fell into an awkward silence, bar Danny's occasional loud squeals. Eventually Alex stood. "I better get back. Look, I'm going to give you this." He pulled out his wallet and then pulled out a credit card. "Use it if you need anything, Blaine. Mom and Dad might be fine throwing you out without anything, but I'm not. Family is family, no matter how you look at it. I'll try to set it up so some of my checks can be sent to you here. I mean, I don't have enough to pay for your tuition or anything like that but… anything helps, right?"

"You don't have to do that." Blaine said hastily, pushing the card back at him. He hadn't wanted his brother to feel bad for him and gave him money. He was going to have two jobs once school started back. He hated relying on other people. "I'm fine. Really."

"Blaine, you're not even 19 yet, you're not working, you're about to move out, and you're about to go to school. You need money. I've got enough to help, Mia and I will be fine. School and working will be hard. Just let me do this, okay? I haven't been the best brother. I should have kept into contact with you. Maybe if I had you wouldn't be in such a mess right now." He handed the card to Kurt. "He will keep it. And I'll find a way to get some more money to you. It's ridiculous that you should be cut off like this anyway."

"I… You… Thanks." He finally sighed, looking down.

"You're welcome, Blaine. Don't delete my phone number, okay? I want to keep in touch and make sure you're doing okay." The older brother bent down and held his arms out to Danny. "Tell Uncle Blaine byebye."

"Ababa!" Danny waved.

"Bye, Danny." Blaine felt himself smile a bit as he passed over the baby.

"Keep in touch, Blaine. And call me if you have any questions about those papers. Don't put it off. You should read through them tonight and send them off tomorrow." Alex picked up the diaper bag and turned to both Burt and Kurt. "It was very nice to meet both of you. Thanks for taking care of him."

"It's no problem." Burt said gruffly, nodding. "We'll make sure he gets that paperwork in."

Kurt tickled Danny's tummy, smiling. "It was nice to meet you too. And especially you, Danny!"

Danny gurgled and smiled.

Alex put a hand on Blaine's shoulder, sighed, and then quickly left the restaurant. Blaine put his hands flat on the table, staring down at them. He paid close attention to the coffee stain that was right between his hands.

Kurt put a hand on his back and moved it in small circles. "Are you okay, Blaine?"

"I just… I…" Blaine trailed off, unable to find words to describe what he was feeling. He was angry at his parents, he was sad that he knew his brother so little when the guy had actually seemed likeable, he felt an overwhelming sense of relief that there was someone in his family that _cared_. His brother cared what happened to him, had essentially promised to help him financially, and had even offered to take Blaine home with him if he had wanted. This was strange, as his parents were usually finding every way possible to shut him away—sending him to Dalton, sending him to Conversion Camps, sending him to summer camps when they stayed in Michigan over the summer. He also felt a huge rush of gratitude towards Burt for having taken him in for the first place and having _really_ given him a family. And Kurt… he was just in love with Kurt. Kurt had been right. It was very good that they had come. And the money… he just couldn't even wrap his thoughts around that because there was so much more important things going through them right now. It wouldn't be any time soon, but he'd be able to pay Burt back for UK's tuition.

"A little shocked?" Kurt's hand moved to his hair, stroking the soft curls.

Blaine nodded and leaned against Kurt. "More than a little."

"Is your family in the Mafia or something with that much money going around?" Burt asked, standing.

"No. My grandfather just… was a really good investor. His father was too. It's just kind of added up over a few generations." Blaine muttered. "I didn't know we had that much… I didn't… wow."

Kurt put a hand under his elbow and gently pulled him up. "Let's get home, sweetie. We'll get into bed and watch some TV until dinner. Does that sound good?"

TV watching and laying down didn't require a whole lot of thinking, and that was exactly what he needed. He linked hands with Kurt as they walked out, saying, "As long as you let me pick what we watch and let me eat ice cream."

"As much ice cream as you want, sweetie." Kurt kissed his cheek.

"And no calling me fat?" Blaine looked at him with what he hoped were big, pitiful eyes.

"If you get to five bowls, I reserve the right to commence with the teasing."

"Are we talking small bowls or big ones?"

* * *

"Kurt, for the love of God, there is only so much shopping a human can do in one day!" Blaine moaned dramatically, hunched over a shopping cart with his head so far down that it was almost inside the front section where children usually sat.

"You're _gay_ , Blaine. You're supposed to like this." Kurt said impatiently. "Do you like the white one or the black one?"

"Okay, I was fine for the first _five hours_ but now it has been eight and my feet _hurt_ and I'm _hungry_ and I've looked at so much baby nursery stuff and apartment stuff that my brains are about to _melt_ and come out through my _ears_." He ranted, head still down in the cart, and then looked up at the container. "Black, of course. What kind of question is that?"

"Well I happen to like the white."

"Then get the white, Kurt." Blaine put one foot on the bar that connected to the wheels and lifted the car so that the front two wheels were up, sending everything in the cart skidding to the back.

"Blaine, acting like a child will not make me go any faster." Kurt chastised. "I don't want to get the white one if you like the black one."

"I could care less what color the wire thing you want to put plastic spoons is." He said grumpily, letting the other wheels of the cart meet the floor once more. "My feet hurt. And it's my birthday. I want to go home. I know you're just keeping me here for so long because you all are planning something. We've been down every aisle five times. If we can't go home, can we please just check out and sit in the car?"

"What do you mean, planning something?" Kurt scoffed, but did not make eye contact.

"Because you keep texting Wes."

"Damn you and your perfect eyesight." The younger boy pouted and tossed the black container into the cart carelessly. "How can you see from that far away?"

"I don't know. You're just not very sneaky. Half of the time you mouth what you text, you know? Either you're planning something or you and Wes are having an affair." He sighed. "Please. Come on. If my feet hurt and I'm in tennis shoes, I can only imagine how much yours hurt. We'll sit in the car."

Kurt gave in, letting out a relieved sigh. "Thank God you're so smart. I've been coming up with different ways to stand still in an aisle for the last two hours because they hurt so badly. I don't know how on Earth I'll be able to drive home. My feet might fall off."

Blaine pushed the cart to the register, complaining about how it was too far away. They had managed to buy tons of baby stuff for the nursery that Kurt would be painting later that week (he still hadn't decided what color to use yet and had several sample cards tacked to the wall of the guest room), but hadn't gotten anything for the apartment unless you counted the black container and a tooth brush holder that was filled with water and had "fishies" that Blaine may have begged for over the span of an entire ten minutes. He had then spent twenty minutes naming the five fish while Kurt looked at baby blankets (the verdicts: George, Eric, Aiden, Craig, and Josh and a light purple and white blanket).

Kurt pulled out his wallet and paid while Blaine loaded the bags into the cart, grumbling about not supposed to have to work on his birthday. As soon as they got out of the store though he cheered up considerably and chirped, "Can we use my toothbrush holder now, Kurt?"

"No. It's for the apartment." Kurt laughed, helping him load bags into the back seat of his Navigator.

"But I can't wait."

"We made an agreement that anything we bought we couldn't use until we moved."

"That was an unfair agreement. Of course you won't want to use a dumb spoon holder container thingy. My toothbrush holder is practical and provides happiness." As Kurt pushed the cart Blaine dug through the bags until he found it. "See, George and Josh are best friends. Eric and Aiden are gay, but it's on the down low. And Craig is the slut. But they don't know that yet. He just moved into the cup from Tennessee. He used to live in a tank at a doctor's office." He pointed out the fish as he listed the names and their back stories off.

" If you knew that we were just planning something, why didn't you say something so we didn't have to walk around for eight hours?"

"I didn't think you were going to keep me out for _eight_ hours. At first I thought it was cute, you trying to plan a surprise. But I went along with it. Plus, Wes made a Facebook status about 'heading back to Ohio where the girls aren't orange and it's easier to get laid!' Why else would he come down this weekend?"

"Your friend is repulsive." Kurt sighed, opening the passenger door for Blaine. "He really is."

Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Only sometimes." He then added pointedly, "You can't blame him for wanting to get laid."

His younger boyfriend instantly became flustered. "It's not my fault Finn decided to walk in before we—you know what, I'm not discussing this again. I think all three of us should be too embarrassed to talk about it for at least two weeks."

"What? Our pants were on."

"Yeah but your hand was pretty unmistakably in the back of mine, Blaine. We should just be very thankful that it wasn't _Dad_ that walked in." Kurt grumbled. "I don't know why Finn doesn't know how to knock. He's walked in on us making out so many times that I'm starting to think he just _wants_ to walk in on something."

"You really think he saw my hand?" Blaine cringed, getting into the car. He had been hoping that had gone unnoticed by Kurt's older brother.

"He's dumb, not blind." Kurt carefully closed the door and then got into the driver seat.

"Well he seemed normal this morning…"

"I passed him in the hallway before we left and he was saying over and over 'It's okay, they don't have sex. It's okay, they don't have sex. Oh god, do they have sex? No, they don't have sex.'" The younger boy started the car.

"He really thinks we don't have sex, and yet your _dad_ does?" Blaine questioned doubtfully, staring at his boyfriend. There was no way Finn was _that_ oblivious. It was not possible. They _shared a bedroom_. Did Finn think that gay people just lived without sex? No. There was no way.

"I'm telling you, Blaine. Finn thinks we do not have sex." Kurt leaned back against the seat and kicked off his shoes.

"How much longer are they going to _take_?" Blaine moaned.

"We can go now. My feet just hurt."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll drive, you big baby. Come on."

"You are not driving _my_ car, Blaine Anderson. You'll get it rear-ended because you drive so slow and stop for every _yellow_ light."

"The yellow light does not mean speed up, Kurt Hummel. It means _slow down_." Blaine pointed out. "It even says that on the driving manual back cover."

"You say tomato, I say to-maht-oh." Kurt waved his hand in the air and grabbed his iPod.

_Oh god. I cannot handle listening to Lady Gaga for the whole ride home again_ , Blaine instantly thought the second Kurt clicked the power button. "Okay, can I be honest with you Kurt? This is very serious."

Kurt set it down on his leg instantly and looked up at him, looking concerned. "What's wrong?"

The look on Kurt's face made his heart melt, and _almost_ made him feel bad, but he really couldn't put it off any longer. He had to lay it out there. After all, starting next week they would have officially been dating for a year. He really couldn't put it off much longer. "Lady Gaga. Please don't put it on Lady Gaga. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I can't _stand_ her." His boyfriend got a look on his face and Blaine couldn't tell whether it was disbelief or amusement. "No, like, I have nightmares about her."

Kurt seemed to finally realize that it was _not_ a joke. His eyes widened and he practically shrieked, "You don't like Lady Gaga?"

"It's my birthday, don't yell at me! No, I don't! She's just _weird_ , Kurt! Okay? She travels around in eggs and, and, she wears dresses of meat, and she just… she's just weird!" Blaine said quickly.

"No, you don't like Lady Gaga? Were you dropped on your head? First Wicked, and now Lady Gaga? What next? You don't like Patti LuPone? Do you hate Vogue magazine?"

"I love Patti LuPone and Vogue! I told you that when we first met. I just _hate_ Lady Gaga. And Britney Spears. She's white trash!"

"Oh my God." Kurt sat up straight. "My boyfriend hates Wicked, Lady Gaga, _and_ Britney Spears? Blaine, you are the Top 40 guru. How can you hate Lady Gaga and Britney Spears? Lady Gaga is _fabulous!"_

"You say how can I hate it, but how can you _like_ it? I think you just like anything that catches attention. Britney Spears is a train wreck and Lady Gaga is just a… freak."

"That's what makes her fabulous! How can you call yourself _gay_? I think I just need a few minutes."

Blaine let out a loud laugh. "You need a few minutes because I don't like Lady Gaga, Kurt?"

"This is all so shocking." Kurt shook his head, as if he had just found out Blaine was going off to war the next morning or something.

"You're so adorable." Blaine reached over and grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry I don't like your stereotypical gay things, Kurt. Are you going to break up with me over it?"

"I haven't decided yet." Kurt muttered, but he smiled a bit. "Lady Gaga? Seriously? You don't like Gaga?"

" _Hate_ her, Kurt. Cannot stand her. I've had nightmares about that egg ever since last year during that award ceremony. In my dream, she comes out and then all these little werewolves run out after her and they howl a lot while she sings about corndogs. It's very disturbing."

His boyfriend stared at him, barely blinking, for several seconds and then burst into laughter. "W-W-What?"

"You heard me! Don't make me say it again! It's recurring and disturbing!" Blaine crossed his arms over his chest, rather upset that Kurt was not seeing the seriousness of the situation at hand. "And I generally have it whenever _you_ decide to drive and put on that _woman_. So I'd appreciate it if Lady Gaga could be cut from your car. At least whenever I am in it."

He immediately stopped laughing, looking horrified. "But what about when we move out and I have the stereo on?"

"I think the fair thing to do would be to give ample warning so I can decide to go for an impromptu run. This is what I want for my birthday. A Gaga-free life." The older boy spoke very seriously. "Is that really too much to ask considering I rub your back every night until you fall asleep?"

"I cannot believe I'm in love with someone who doesn't like Wicked, Gaga, or Britney. Where did I go wrong in life, Blaine?" Kurt muttered, sliding his shoes onto his aching feet. "Fine. I will make a separate Car playlist that is Gaga-free for whenever you are in the car. But I hope you realize what a sacrifice I'm making for you. And I hope you know that you owe me one very amazing blow job tonight."

"But it's _my_ birthday."

"Fine. I'll give you one first." Kurt gave him a sweet smile and then backed out of the parking lot. "But I _will_ have one."

* * *

"BLAINE, MY LOVE!"

"BLAINE, MY LIFE!"

Blaine had barely made it into the house when both Wes and David ran at him, practically knocking him down. "Oh my _God_ , I am _so_ surprised!" Blaine grunted. He tried to sound shocked at the sight of his best friends, but the fact that he couldn't breathe hampered his acting abilities a bit.

"Told you he'd figure it out." David frowned. "We suck."

"We do suck. I should go make a Facebook status about our suckage." Wes agreed.

"Maybe if you made a few _less_ statuses, a surprise birthday party would be a little easier, Wes." Kurt said, pointing a hand at his boyfriend's Asian friend. "If I get a blister for all the walking that I had to do today, I'm going to delete every girl's phone number from your phone. That, or I'll change every name in your phone to characters from musicals."

"Wes, you're stupid!" David hit him upside the head.

"I'm stupid? He's going to kill you when he hears you told Kurt's pop about the time you got arrested." Wes glared, rubbing his head.

"You _what_?" Blaine's eyes widened in horror.

"Just kidding." Wes snickered, and narrowly missed a punch from Blaine.

"Arrested?" Kurt's eyebrow arched as he stared between the three boys.

"I'll fill you in on _all_ of the juicy details later, Kurtsie. And believe me. It is _well_ worth the wait. I've got some stories about Belle that would make even you're gelled hair curl." Wes grinned and slid an arm around Kurt's thin waist. "Come on, friend. I think we should break into the amazing smelling cake you made for Blaine. I've been craving some ever since we brought Belle back to your house in February."

"Aw, you made me a cake?" Blaine got a goofy smile on his face, feeling his heart flutter. He then added, "And don't call me Belle. And don't put your arms around my boyfriend either, Wesley."

"Of course I did. After you fell asleep last night." Kurt responded, attempting to shrug Wes off of him with no luck.

"I didn't go to sleep until two in the morning!" he exclaimed, eyes widening. Kurt was really too good for him. Who else but Kurt Hummel would stay up all night until he fell asleep, and then bake him a birthday cake? No one else. Because Kurt was the best boyfriend ever.

"Wes, let him go." David laughed. "We've got some pretty embarrassing stories about you, too, you know? I wouldn't push your luck with Belle here."

" _My name is not Belle_!"

Kurt finally broke free of Wes' grasp and turned back, grabbing Blaine's hand. "Carole made your favorite dinner, dad and Finn worked together to get you a gift that I hate but you will love, and Grammy insisted on coming. I don't _think_ Paige is here, but if she is, don't feel awkward or anything. Dad really tried to do something nice for you. It was all his idea. I told him you didn't want to do anything but that's like telling Santa that he can't hand out toys, apparently."

"Cake, cake, cake!" Wes chanted, pushing them towards the door.

"Wes ruined it." David declared to Burt, Carole, Finn, and Kurt's grandmother as the shortest boys were pushed into the room. "Via Facebook."

"Dude, that _sucks_!" Finn frowned. "Happy Birthday though!"

"You made a status about it too." Blaine said cheerfully. " _About to head to Blaine's Surprise Birthday Party. Be back later with food!"_

" _Finn!"_ Carole reached over the table and gently hit his shoulder, her other hand rested on her stomach. She stood and went to hug Blaine. "Happy Birthday, sweetie."

"Sorry it's not much, kid." Burt said from the table in a gruff voice, but he smiled and took his baseball cap off.

"Nonsense, it will be amazing because we are all amazing people." Kurt's grandmother went over to hug Blaine as well. "Carole, you should really not be up on your feet too much or they'll hurt."

"Oh, they always hurt anyway." Carole waved her hand and ruffled Blaine's hair. "It's part of being pregnant. For me, at least. They always hurt and grow. They grew two sizes when I was pregnant with Finn. Luckily they've not grown any this time around. _Yet._ "

"Now have you had Kurt's cake before, Blaine?" Kurt's grandmother asked, pulling him into a hug. "No?" she gasped as he shook his head. "Well it is _so_ amazing that we don't buy store cakes. We just don't do it. The only person that gets a store bought cake on their birthday is Kurt. The silly thing always gets a Disney cake too. He used to collect the toppers. But he's the only one to not get a homemade cake because you just _can't_ make your own birthday cake and besides, after the red velvet cake incident when he was younger, well, he gets what he wants. Burt's never handled his fits very well. That's why the boy is so spoiled. You will die when you taste it though, though, rest assured. It will be a beautiful death though."

"Is it really _that_ good?" Blaine asked, looking between everybody.

" _Dreams_ about it, man. I'm telling you. You should have had some of Finn's." Wes said, eyes practically rolling into the back of his head. "By the way, Kurt, I'm practically family and you should know I am the only human to have a birthday _every week_."

Carole laughed and smiled at Blaine. "I like him. He's very funny. And David is very sweet. I like your friends, hon."

"David is the father figure." Wes said cheerfully. "He always gets us out of sticky situations. You know, stealing cars and public nudity, alien invasions, that sort of stuff."

"I have never participated in _anything_ like that." Blaine said, reaching to punch him.

"Of course you haven't, sweetie." Carole ruffled his hair again. "Now everybody sit down so we can eat—."

"Cake?"

"Wes, sit down. Dinner comes first." David sighed, pushing him towards a seat. "Don't make me pull out duck tape and make a box for you to sit in again."

"That was Blaine you had to do that for, not me. When he was listening to California Girls on repeat." Wes corrected, taking a seat by Burt. "You should know, Blaine fangirls over you. Shut up, Blaine, you're gay so I can call it fangirling. No, really. He loves the Buckeyes. He's _obsessed_. Every Thanksgiving he eats dinner while watching them play. He doesn't tear his eyes away from the screen for a _minute_. He was all 'OMG, Wes, my BF Kurt's parental unit was on the Buckeyes WTFmate.'"

Blaine took a seat on the stool between Kurt and Finn, staring at Wes. He kept waiting for Wes to make eye contact so he could throw a roll at him or send him a nasty look but Wes knew better than to look at Blaine.

David rolled his eyes. "You'll have to ignore him. His goal in life is to embarrass Blaine. Half of the stuff he says isn't true. Besides, Wes, that was a crappy lie because Blaine hates texting lingo."

"Just because it isn't factual doesn't mean it's a lie. Just ask Blaine, his family is full of politicians." Wes retorted. "By the way, I saw your grandmother at the gas station when I got into Columbus. She always yells at me in really slow broken English. It is so annoying. _Hell-oh Wes-luh-ee. How are you? I luh-ike yo-or ha-air_. Does she really think if I didn't know English, drawing out each sound would make me understand her more?"

"Yes. Yes, she does." Blaine cringed. His grandmother was so ignorant. It was a wonder she'd made it as far in the political system as she had and he dreaded the day she made it into Congress where her ignorance could be dangerous. Sure, Wes and David found it funny to make fun of the way that she acted. But it was really just prejudice and ignorance on her part and Blaine did not find it funny at all.

"Let's talk about something else!" Carole said as she sat down. "And everybody eat plenty, because we'll have tons left over."

"I'll take it home." Wes stated.

"Oh God. You are so rude." Blaine moaned, rubbing his forehead. "Your mom would die if she saw you right now, Wes."

"Well your grandmother would die if she knew you've found the boy you're going to run off and marry." Wes retorted. "As would your mother and your father. At least I've only killed one family member."

"Don't go giving them any ideas to run off now." Kurt's grandmother said cheerfully. "Although I do think when they choose to get married in thirty years that it will be a joyous and wonderful event."

"Thirty years?" Kurt questioned. "I am _not_ going to be almost fifty when I get married, thank you very much." He sent a look towards Blaine. "Twenty-six at the latest."

"Let's find some more topics to make Blaine uncomfortable." David grinned.

"Isn't this supposed to be a nice birthday party? Can't we talk about how amazing my voice is or how you miss me? How there is a big hole empty in your heart now that you don't see me daily?" Blaine whined. He said it in a joking tone, but he really was kind of displeased. They had gone from talking about his family to talking about marriage. Besides, whenever David got that grin on his face it usually led to Undapper Blaine stories and he didn't think Burt would like him quite as much if he found out about some of the things he'd done when he was younger.

"Miss you? You took over my kitchen, couch, and TV for three weeks, Blaine. I've moved on from missing you."

"David, I had to bribe a 70 year old lady by practically taking my shirt off so you could have the last turkey after you forgot to pick one up. I think we're even."

"He has to get turkeys for our families a lot. He'd make a lovely prostitute." Wes chirped. "I burnt my family's turkey once and he paid some old lady $100 for it."

"I think Blaine is right." Burt cut in gruffly as he began cutting his chicken into smaller pieces. "Well, we don't have to talk about your voice. I got that with Kurt enough when he was younger. Ad we don't miss you 'cause you're always around. Which we like. But I think we should talk about what _he_ wants to talk about. You boys can continue your harassment after midnight if you're still here when it's not his birthday."

David frowned. "Drats. I had a good story too. Next time, Kurt, remind me. Just say _skinny jeans_ and I'll know _exactly_ what you're talking about."

Blaine covered his face, and his hand remained plastered there until Wes, David, and Finn headed into the living room after finishing their food an agonizingly long ten minutes later. Kurt's hand rested on his leg, squeezing gently. "Oh God. Shoot me now. I am _so_ sorry."

"Kiddo, have you seen some of Finn's friends? That was nothing." Burt laughed.

"So, Blaine," Kurt's grandmother leaned over and sat where Finn had been seated next to him. "The last two times I've seen you I haven't even gotten to _really_ know you. Burt told me you left UK to take care of Kurt?"

Blaine said a quiet thank you to Carole as she took his empty plate and nodded. "Yeah, but I'm starting back this summer. We're going to live in Cincinnati and I'm going to commute."

She nodded. "UK is a very, very good school. What do you study?"

"I'm majoring in English." He said, very glad to be talking about something that interested him and was not aimed at embarrassing him. He loved his friends but thought that, sometimes, they should not be allowed out in public. "I may double major though. I'll have a lot of empty spaces I need filled and stuff."

"That sounds really stressful! Are you going to teach? I think you'd be a very good teacher." She smiled. "Kurt, I _like_ him. Don't you two _ever_ break up."

Kurt laughed as Blaine blushed a bit. "He's going to law school, Grammy. He wants to be a lawyer."

"That sounds even _more_ stressful. You know when I wanted to go to college, my father did not want me to? Girls didn't go a whole lot back then. But it's how I met Burt and Paige's father." She put her hand over Blaine's and patted it in an affectionate way. Blaine couldn't help but think that _this_ was how a grandmother was supposed to act. Not hard and cold like his grandmother who always put on a front for everyone she met—family included. Kurt's grandmother, he could tell, was genuinely a _nice_ person. And it was clear Kurt looked up to her. Blaine could see why.

"Oh?" Blaine asked.

"Yes. I met him in the beginning of my second year. In August." She said thoughtfully. "We actually lived in Kentucky at the time, believe it or not. I went to UK too. So did he. Well, my family lived in Shelbyville. It's not too far from Lexington. See, _my_ father loved Andrew because he would drive me home on the weekends. My father wouldn't let me drive."

Blaine listened interestedly. Kurt leaned against him, head resting on Blaine's shoulder, although Blaine was sure he'd probably heard the story a million times. Kurt was a hopeless romantic, though, and had told Blaine several times that his grandmother told amazing stories.

"Well, Andrew was finishing up a degree in… what was it in, Burt?" she turned to look at Burt who still eating and only half listening.

"Business, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Business! He was in his last semester though when we met. He had to go an extra one because he partied all the time. And still does." She rolled her eyes and patted his hand again. "And he graduated and you know what I made him do?"

"What?" he asked curiously.

"I told him he had to marry me! We'd only been dating four months! It was the craziest thing!" she exclaimed as Burt rolled his eyes and shook his head. Carole was listening while she washed dishes and, at hearing that, looked like she might cry. "Well, he about _died_. I thought he was going to pass out. But the next day he proposed! Right in front of my sorority sisters and everything! It was _so romantic_. So I dropped out of school, we rented a little cottage for a year in… in Richmond, I think. It was gorgeous. And we got married. We'd known each other not even six months when actually we got married. And we stayed together. For forty six years."

Blaine smiled as Kurt let out a dreamy sort of sigh, nuzzling his shoulder. "That's great."

"Oh, he drives me crazy." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Absolutely crazy. He's gotten very senile."

"He doesn't really like to leave home." Burt laughed. "Especially when any sort of fighting is going on."

"Well if you and Paige didn't constantly bicker it would help." She turned and glared at her son. "You know, you two could take some lessons from Finn and Kurt."

"Oh, they bicker, Annie." Carole said, taking her seat beside Burt. "Constantly."

"Well he's annoying." Kurt said in a haughty voice.

Kurt's grandmother rolled her eyes. "Blaine, good luck living with this thing. You must have some real patience to put up with him."

"It's because he loves me." Kurt said, arms going around Blaine from behind.

"I do." Blaine turned his head to face Kurt. He was a bit shocked when Kurt leaned down and pressed their lips together in a gentle kiss in front of all of the adults. When he pulled away, Kurt gave him an impish smile, arms tightening around him.

"They're so cute." His grandmother said, sighing in the same way that Kurt had. He had clearly picked up his romanticism from his grandmother, and probably a great deal of his fashion sense as well. Every time Blaine had seen the woman she'd been dressed extremely nicely. "You know, I really wish Paige and Taylor had been able to work things out. It's so sad. Fifteen years."

Blaine felt Kurt nuzzle his shoulder and he leaned back into his boyfriend's arms. Kurt's thumb moved up and down on his side in a way that almost made him want to close his eyes and just fall asleep right there and never wake up. Holding Kurt was amazing, but when Kurt held _him_ , it was something else entirely. When Kurt's arms were around him like that, he was completely happy. Nothing could come in-between them, nothing mattered but them, he was completely at ease with everything, and all was right in the world. It was an amazing feeling to be in Kurt's arms. Nothing could top it.

"They've split up before. For three years. They could get back together." Burt said awkwardly and in a low, rough sort of voice.

"It's just awful. They love each other so much. I guess I understand both sides, but… it's just awful. And your father is extremely upset. You know how Taylor made him laugh."

"Taylor makes everyone laugh." Kurt said quietly, still not loosening his hold on Blaine.

"If there is one thing I can say, it is that my babies and grandbaby have always gotten into good relationships." She patted Blaine's hand again and then turned to Carole. "Carole, you won't believe what I heard in the store the other day. I didn't know whether to laugh or get mad."

"What was it?" Carole laughed, rubbing her stomach. She was beginning to look tired and Blaine felt a little guilty that his small birthday party was keeping her away. She did look happy, though, so that eased his guilt a little bit. It was nice to see her happy when, lately, she'd been bursting into random fits of tears because of her hormones.

"Well I was in the store and I passed this little boy on a cell phone and he said, 'I'm probably not going to even have a job when I grow up!' Isn't that ridiculous, to raise your little kid that way?"

"At least they're teaching them to be realistic these days." Burt snorted and then laughed at himself.

Kurt kissed his shoulder and whispered, "Let's go in the living room with Finn, Wes and David while we wait to eat cake."

"Alright." He nodded and stood up with Kurt, leaving the adults to chat. As they made it into the hallway he paused, turned to Kurt and whispered, "Thank you."

"What?" Kurt squeezed his hand.

"This party… the extent of anything fun on a birthday I've had is David giving me a cupcake with a candle at Dalton and watching Disney movies."

"You've never had a birthday party, Blaine?"

He'd had them. Plenty of them. Twelve, to be exact. Of the twelve that he could remember, they had always been fun. Trips to King's Island or to the Newport Aquarium, sometimes even the zoo. A few times, when he was around 8 and 9, his parents had rented out an ice skating rink and he'd twirled around happily on the ice with his mom. That was all, of course, before he started acting just a little abnormal and most definitely before he came out to his father. After that, everything had changed. He got a cheap birthday card that was only signed by his mom. Sometimes they sent money and he would be able to buy a game he wanted or a shirt he liked. Mostly he just put the money into savings, though, because any time he did buy anything he ended up hating it because it would make him sad when he remembered why he had had the money to buy it. But it was hard to explain all that, and it would probably have made him more upset to say it out loud, so he just sort of shrugged.

Kurt looked at him with sad blue eyes and Blaine got the feeling that he just _knew_ , that he understood that it hadn't _always_ been that way. Then Kurt's arms went around his waist and the smaller boy pulled him closer, nuzzling the crook of his neck and whispering in his ear. "I love you _so much_ , Blaine. So, so much." One hand went up to his hair, stroking the soft and familiar curls.

"I know. I love you too." Blaine whispered back. "I'm just… It was really nice of you all to do this for me. Really nice… I… I really appreciate it and, I just…" He couldn't find the right words so he just mouthed wordlessly.

Kurt backed away from the hug, meeting his hazel eyes with his own. He gave him a sad smile. "I know, Blaine. I know."

"How do you know what I'm trying to say when I don't?" Blaine reached up and wiped his eyes, feeling tears welling in them but determined to not let them fall.

Kurt got a smug sort of smile and said, "'Cause I know you, Blaine. I know you."

Blaine rolled his eyes and grasped his hand tightly. "I love you, Kurt."

The smug smile left his face and it was replaced with a very small and loving smile. "I love you too, Blaine. Let's go see what havoc your friends and my brother are causing now, shall we?"


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that the prom episode has aired: I know in my story I have the boys getting beaten up by some football players after junior prom. Because of the fact that Glee did not show what happens after prom, as far as this story is concerned they were still attacked after prom.

Kurt was only half awake when he felt warm, soft lips on his. He lazily raised his hand to touch his boyfriend's face and could feel the hint of stubble, which could only mean that Blaine hadn't been awake very long either. Usually, as Kurt always slept late on weekends, Blaine would already be up and showered by the time he woke up. His fingers traced Blaine's jaw line as he kissed him back, breathing in deeply through his nose.

"I love you." Blaine mumbled sleepily into his lips, crawling on top of him and pressing close.

Kurt shivered a bit and slid his hands down Blaine's broad shoulders, murmuring, "I love you too." There were some things you just didn't get used to, and waking up to Blaine Anderson kissing you was one of them. It never failed to make his heart pound and to warm his insides. He didn't think it would ever fail to do so either.

It seemed to take ages, but Blaine finally pulled away from him. Kurt opened his eyes to see his boyfriend's hazel ones staring back at him. He felt himself smile and he stretched his arms out, wrapping them around Blaine's neck.

"Good morning, my love." Blaine grinned in a sleepy but adorable kind of way that made Kurt's stomach do cartwheels. "You still look asleep."

"'M waking up. Gimme minute." Kurt yawned, lowering his arms and snuggling up to Blaine. "Happy anniversary."

Blaine wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, pulling him closer. "Happy anniversary, Kurt."

"'M waking up, I promise. I am." Kurt mumbled, pulling the blankets over their heads.

"Are you sure about that?" Blaine laughed quietly, ruffling his hair. "You can sleep some more. I'll take a shower."

"Don't leave me." He whined, looking up with big eyes) and what he hoped was an adorable pout. "Please."

" Since when can you not sleep alone while I shower? You've only been doing it every weekend day since I've moved in." his boyfriend laughed again, kissing his cheek.

"'Cause it's our anniversary and we have to spend every second together." He grabbed the pillow, dragging it down over their heads in a half-conscious attempt to deter his boyfriend's leaving. "So don't leave."

"Or you could get up. That's an option too, you know?" Blaine tugged gently at his hair after moving the pillow off of them easily.

"Stoooop it."

"Wake up, Kurt. Wake up, Kurt." The older boy sang, poking him gently everywhere he could reach. "Wake up, Kurt."

Finally Kurt shot up into a sitting position and crossed his arms over his chest. His boyfriend could be cute, sweet, and charming. But he could also be very childish and downright annoying when he wanted. "Blaine Anderson! You're insufferable. You're a nuisance. You're a—mmh!"

Blaine cut him off, kissing him very eagerly. Kurt returned the kiss just as eagerly, hands going back over Blaine's broad shoulders and then letting his hands slide up his shirts and over his boyfriend's stomach. Blaine let out a groan into his mouth, shuffling closer—Kurt didn't know whether it was an attempt to stop his hands roaming or if it was meant to be encouragement, because you could never really tell with Blaine. He took the fact that Blaine's tongue slid into his mouth to prove it was encouragement and slid his hands down to Blaine's hips, laying down and bringing his boyfriend with him.

This continued, very close to getting very heated, until Carole knocked on the door. "Breakfast is on the table, boys!"

Blaine let out a tiny groan of frustration and pulled away, scowling, and hissed quietly, "It's like they've got cameras in here, Kurt. I bet they do. Every time anything good happens, someone barges in or knocks or yells for one of us."

"We're coming, Carole!" Kurt said, much better at sounding completely normal after a very heated make out session than he used to. Then again, he and Blaine had had a lot of practice since that date in early February that his grandmother and aunt had interrupted. After they heard her retreating steps, Kurt sat up. "We better get down there. If we take too long she'll start crying about how we don't want to be around her."

Blaine stood up, his frustration only half way forgotten. It was really tough living with Kurt's parents. They were growing closer. They'd been together for a year. It was tough not being able to just take Kurt then and there. He was going to like when they could have sex whenever they wanted, without interruption. Or when they could stay out late and not worry about calling Burt or Carole. Blaine was able to do whatever he wanted, of course. Kurt, however, was a different story. And lately it was a very pregnant Carole that had been so protective of Kurt. She's also been very emotional. To the point that it was almost unbearable at times.

Neither boy had ever been around a pregnant person—Blaine was the baby in his family and Kurt had been an only child. Kurt didn't quite count being around Quinn because it was something entirely different to live with a pregnant woman and to spend a few hours a week with a pregnant woman. Both boys had known women had mood swings but he didn't realize just how… well, mood swing like they could be. One minute she would be laughing hysterically and the next she'd be weeping into a bowl of ice cream on the couch. Also, the food cravings were enough to make Blaine and Kurt want to vomit and Burt to file bankruptcy. She was constantly making Burt to go pick her up the most random things like green olives and ham salad. Together. Or watermelon and milk. Also, together. And of course the obligatory pickle cravings. Burt was very patient with her over her cravings. He wasn't patient over her wanting _new_ food. It didn't matter if he bought it yesterday. It had to be fresh. Fresh, fresh, fresh. There was only so much food you could talk three teenage boys into eating. The above listed, and the latest craving of _fresh_ potato salad, were not included in things you could force them into eating by any means. This is why their refrigerator was over flowing with food that would go to waste.

"Can you imagine being pregnant and living with three boys, though? I bet she dreams of murdering us all in her sleep every night with an axe." Kurt crawled out of bed and stumbled to his closet, changing into jeans and his favorite Marc Jacobs button up shirt. Maybe he should have put more thought into his outfit for their anniversary— _their one year anniversary!_ He could barely believe it! A year! _—_ but he figured that, after a year, it didn't much matter. Besides, it wasn't like Blaine was going to run too far away from him. Kurt had stolen his copy of Harry Potter—something Blaine would not have let go easily, as it was a first edition.

"I know. Poor Carole." Blaine sighed, moving towards the door. "I'm going to take a shower."

Kurt's eyes widened in horror and he faced his boyfriend. "Oh no, you are not! You aren't making me go down there _alone_ , Blaine. You're her favorite. Why do you think Dad keeps making you stay downstairs and do homework? Because when you're around, she cries less."

"I'm not her favorite." The older boy shrugged nonchalantly.

"Blaine, I know she enjoys snuggling up with me while she cries, but you're like her best friend. You know it's true. You cannot make me go down there alone." The last part came out a half growl. Kurt wasn't going to budge on this. Besides, Carole would weep when she saw the two of them. She had every day for the last week, just because their one year anniversary had been _coming up_. Now that it was here… no, Kurt didn't want to think about it. At least, though, it had distracted him from the trial. He was grateful for that.

"But look at this." Blaine pointed at his facial hair. "I do not like this. It is not dapper Blaine. It is undapper Blaine."

Kurt just rolled his eyes and grabbed his hand, dragging him downstairs. Secretly, he thought it was a little sexy. Not that he'd want Blaine to keep it that way, though, because it was very scratchy when they kissed. All the same, though, his boyfriend looked _sexy_.

"Happy Anniversary!" Carole threw herself at both of them as they made their way into the kitchen. "Oh, you boys! A year! I could just cry!"

"Please don't." Burt said from the table, looking exhausted.

Carol opened her mouth to say something, but Kurt pulled her into a hug before she could.  
"Thank you, Carole."

"Kurt wouldn't let me shave." Blaine muttered, sitting at the table next to Kurt's father. "He said I had to come down with him so she wouldn't cry."

"I'm thinking about attaching you to her hip until July."Burt grunted, taking a drink of his coffee. "How much money would I have to give you for that, kid?"

"A year!" Carole beamed, looking back and forth between Kurt and Blaine. "I'm just so happy!"

And then she began to cry. Burt hung his head in a 'God help me' sort of way. "A million dollars? I'll sell Kurt off, I'm sure someone would pay that much for him. He always wanted to be Tinkerbell when he was younger. He can sew himself a nice little costume."

Blaine actually stared at Burt blankly. He was willing to _sell Kurt_ to be done with the crying? This is why Blaine was gay. This is what pregnant women reduced wonderful, caring fathers too. And Kurt wanted to be Tinkerbell? That was just cute.

"I'll take that as a no." Burt sighed.

"Y-y-you just don't u-u-understand! H-He was so s-sad a-and now h-he's got B-Blaine and I-I'm so ha-happy that he's s-s-so happy! H-He's such a g-good boy, B-Burt! I w-was so w-worried!" Carole sobbed, arms limp at her sides and stomach quite in the way of Kurt's hug.

That made Kurt's stomach knot up a bit, but he held on tighter and buried his head in her neck. He hadn't realized that Carole had known how unhappy he was before Blaine. He had hoped that he'd been a little better at disguising it, but apparently not. He also wondered if that was why she'd wholeheartedly accepted Blaine into the family before ever _really_ meeting him. The first time she'd met Blaine she'd given him a huge hug, had kissed his cheek, and barely let him even introduce himself to Finn and Burt. After they had begun dating, though, she'd stayed in the living room with the boys for hours asking Blaine all kinds of questions about himself, his family, and his friends. Honestly the woman had gotten more background information from Blaine in that hour than Kurt had gotten in months of early morning coffee run conversations. Had she been so willing to accept Blaine because Blaine made him happy? He felt a huge rush of gratitude towards his stepmother.

"Yes, well, he's fine now, Carole." Burt said firmly, in an attempt to soothe her and put a stopper in her tears. It, of course, only encouraged them.

"T-These boys w-warm my h-heart!" she threw her arms around Kurt to return the hug and sobbed helplessly. Kurt hugged her back even tighter, well he made an attempt to, and rubbed her back. "I-I-I'm just so happy! You boys!"

"You don't have to cry, Carole." Blaine said gently from the table.

"Come here, you!" she waved him over. When he was within reaching distance she grabbed him and pulled him into the hug, just crying between them. "Y-you two are i-in love a-and it just w-warm m-my heart. You t-two are s-so b-beautiful a-and I just… oh, you boys!"

"Okay, Carole, sweetie." Burt pried her off after about ten minutes of Carole crying and the boys taking turns trying to console her. "They need to eat. They're doing some more apartment shopping, remember? They've got a big day planned."

"Don't let them leave! I l-love them! Ground them! You boys are grounded!"

"They are not grounded. I know you love them, but they'll be back home in a few hours for dinner. It's stuff they've got to get done and I'm sure they'd like some time alone." Kurt's father said, maintaining his firm voice. "Let's go and watch one of those movies you like, alright? Then you can take a nap and by time you wake up, the boys will be home.""

"Can we s-sit in the nursery fo-for a while?" she sniffled, wiping her puffy eyes.

"Sure." Burt shrugged and led her off, turning around and mouthing, 'Go now while you can.'

Kurt pulled Blaine out without hesitation, breakfast forgotten.

"I'm in my pajamas!"

"So? We've got to get out now. You know how she gets. This is going to be one of those days that she cries over anything. I didn't have the heart to say we were eating dinner out, so we'll have to eat twice." He smirked a bit and then added, "I'm sure you'll have no problem with that, though."

"I don't have any shoes on!" Blaine pointed at his bare feet. Then he scowled. "Hey! Are you saying I eat too much?

"That is exactly what I am saying, Blaine." He grinned at his older boyfriend impishly. "And you've got shoes in your car."

Even Blaine would have to admit that this much was true. He had almost everything that you could imagine in his car. He could keep an entire house clean—spotless, even, but his car was always a wreck. No matter how many times Kurt cleaned it out. And believe me, Kurt cleaned it out a lot because Blaine was usually the one to drive. Kurt secretly didn't mind that Blaine always drove, either, but would never admit that.

Blaine tried one last attempt to get back into the house. "My wallet."

Kurt held it up, still smirking in a smug way. He just knew Blaine too well.

"Fine, fine. But if anyone I know sees me with this," he gestured to his face, still scowling. "I will harm you."

"It's handsome on you. Come on, let's go. We've got stuff to buy."

Blaine stopped and pulled him close, looking him in the eyes. It was hard to pay attention to what he said, though, because Blaine kept focusing on how gorgeous his hazel eyes were and how in the light they appeared green. "Four hours. That is the amount of time you have, Kurt. Alright?"

 _Four hours?_ How did Blaine expect them to get all of their apartment shopping done in _four hours_? Sure, they'd already been on two or three shopping trips. And sure, they were putting off the big stuff like ordering a bed and bigger furniture until closer to time. But _still_. Four hours? They still had to get… basically anything that wasn't huge that was sold at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. So far they'd gotten some—and by some he meant two bowls— dishes, a water and fish filled toothbrush holder, dinosaur shaped ice trays, and pot holders. It wasn't hard to guess who had picked out what. Most of their shopping trips had been for the nursery mainly, though, which Kurt had finished two days before.

The baby's room had taken three days and nights to complete; he had missed Glee Club to do so after school, and both Blaine and Burt had to offer assistance in getting it finished in a timely fashion. Of course Kurt _could_ have waited. They weren't officially moving until June 8th, and it was only mid April, but he wasn't sure how much he would feel like doing when the trial got closer. This is why he had painted the nursery early and also why. Carole had almost fallen to the floor crying when she'd seen it for the first time and, ever since the paint fumes cleared out, she could often be found sitting in the white wooden rocking chair and humming. She was completely content with her nursery that was a very pale purple and had white furniture. In her mind, it was perfect. It looked like it had been professionally done, but Kurt was the type of person to give his all in every project so no one had expected anything less than perfection.

Needless to say, if it had taken Kurt two months long to plan a nursery and prepare, how long would it take him to plan and prepare for an entire apartment? Blaine, who was already getting swamped with work prior to finals and spring break, hadn't been much help apart from the occasional Saturday or Sunday. The older boy's lists he'd scratched down during classes only did so much. Besides, his lists started off with the best of intentions (cage for Kreacher when we aren't home, cart for microwave, silverware) but by the ends of the lists they more turned into the grocery list that a junk food crazed child would make (dinosaur chicken nuggets, pizza rolls _and_ hot pockets because he could never choose, and Jumbo Tootsie Rolls, and a dinosaur sandwich cutter, please, for when I want to take sandwiches in my lunch. But if they don't have a dinosaur one, the heart shaped one will do ).

"Four hours, Blaine? Really? _Four hours_?" The younger boy scoffed, looking back at him. "You realize how much stuff we still have to get, right? Try _everything_."

"I'm happy with my ice trays and toothbrush cup." Blaine said, until he saw Kurt's glare. "Fine. We'll see how much we get done in four hours and the re-evaluate… but I'd really like to spend some of our anniversary together and _not_ in a store. I know that is shocking to hear. I feel like all of our alone time is us shopping lately."

"Okay, okay. We'll re-evaluate in a few hours." Kurt nodded, because he did know that most of their free time lately had been in stores. It wasn't his fault, though, that he'd had to prepare a nursery and buy stuff for an apartment almost at once. Carole and Burt had picked a really bad time to get pregnant. "But this means you can't stop every time you see something that remotely resembles a toy and play with it. Okay?"

"But that's the best part of Bed, Bath, and Beyond. They've got all kinds of toys in random places to occupy—." Blaine began to protest, but was interrupted.

"To occupy the little children. Not the big children."

Blaine made a 'hmph' noise and got into the passenger seat of Kurt's car. "You know what? For that comment you can drive."

"Don't you want to get some shoes first?"

* * *

Their first anniversary had gone very well. After stopping for lunch, the boys spent about three hours buying stuff for the apartment. Blaine didn't find shopping in the same stores Kurt had dragged him to every free day the boys had that thrilling. In fact, he'd probably memorized the entire store layout enough to draw a map by now. He did, however, enjoy spending the time with Kurt. As much as Blaine was sick of the store, Kurt couldn't get enough of it. As far as picking out things, Blaine just assumed to let Kurt pick what he wanted and to agree that it was amazing. It made life simpler that way, and did he _really_ care what kind of dishes, curtains, and shelves they had? No. His mind was too focused on the frozen yogurt they would be getting after they left.

This focus was why what he picked out what was, as Kurt would later dub, a heart attack in a cup. Because he'd been debating for hours what he wanted in his yogurt and had not been able to decide, he had simply gone with everything he loved. After all, it was his one year anniversary. Couldn't he treat himself?

"How do we go to get a _healthy_ snack that is frozen yogurt and you get cookie dough stuff with chocolate chips and hot fudge, chocolate, marshmallows, graham cracker, and sprinkles?" Kurt asked as he sat down next to his boyfriend. He was still trying to figure out how Blaine's cup was filled to the brim and he'd been done a whole minute before Kurt (who only got frozen yogurt with some chocolate on it).

Blaine blinked at Kurt, spoon half way to his mouth. "Well as long as it's healthier, I don't need to worry."

"It's not healthier if you… you know what? Never mind." Kurt shook his head, but was smiling. Blaine really was a big child. It wasn't just the ice cream either. Kurt slept late on weekends and often came down to find Finn and Blaine on the couch, big bowls of cereal in their laps and watching cartoons. If Finn was home, they'd for sure be down there watching cartoons. Truth be told, he sort of liked it when they "forced" him to sit between them, curled up to Blaine, and watch the television as well until Burt came down and told them to act their age. (Which was completely ridiculous because Burt would make himself a bowl, sit down as well, and stay until got home from work at 2, glare at all four of them, and turn the television off. That was another story, though.)

The older boy just shrugged and took his spoonful of his "yogurt."

"Blaine… is that Fruity Pebbles?" Kurt grabbed the cup from him, surveying it closer. _Oh my God. He's going to be dead before he's thirty at this rate_ , he thought as he took in the contents of the cup with wide eyes. It made his stomach hurt just _looking_ at it. "And Oreos? And brownie pieces too? Oh my God, I didn't even see you getting all of this stuff! How did you manage to take a healthy snack and turn it into a… a heart attack in a cup?"

"Hey, I wanted to get the gummy worms to but I refrained." Blaine yanked his cup back, took a bite, and said with his mouth half full, "Yours is boring. You're just jealous because mine looks delicious."

"Yours looks like a five year old pointed to everything he recognized." Kurt retorted, shaking his head. "And mine is Chocolate Raspberry with hot fudge on it. How is that boring? It's classic."

"I'd much rather have a heart attack in a cup than something classic." Was all Blaine said before filling his mouth with a bite so big that even _he_ couldn't talk and chew at the same time. It was a bit impressive considering all of the times Kurt had seen him talking with a mouth full of food.

"Sometimes I don't know how I'm attracted to you, Blaine." It was true. He sat and thought about it a lot, but he had come to the conclusion that there were just some things you couldn't explain. And for as childish and gross as Blaine could sometimes be, he really and truly loved Blaine. He couldn't imagine spending one day without him. It was going to be an adjustment to live alone in the same house as Blaine, yet probably have such different schedules. It almost made his heart ache, knowing school and work would come between them in some ways.

He wanted to just skip all that nonsense and fast forward to where Kurt's fashion line was doing so wonderfully that he could take off months at a time, that Blaine's law firm was doing well enough that he could take off whenever he'd like, and that the two were able to just _live_. Live alone, or maybe with kids. Either way, they'd be a family. Kurt didn't want to work for that, though. He wanted it to just happen. Unfortunately, life didn't work that way.

"You still see me in the blazer." Blaine said cheerfully after swallowing the last of his monstrous bite and interrupting Kurt's thoughts. "I'm a bit depressed we had to turn them in at graduation."

"No. After Rachel's party, I only saw you in that cardigan. Where is it by the way? I haven't seen it in, like, a year."

Blaine made a funny face. "Wes ruined it. He spilled purple Koolaid on it. Actually, he spilled purple Koolaid on his textbook and used my cardigan to wipe it up. I was very sad, too. It was my favorite cardigan."

"I like your green one best." Kurt said cheerfully. "And the black and white striped one. Oh, and the blue one. You've got a lot… I can't believe you're eating that before dinner, Blaine. You won't be able to finish it."

"Are you kidding me? My stomach is like a black hole when it comes to sugary things and fast food!" he stood up eagerly and held out his hand.

"Don't forget Carole is making dinner too." Kurt warned, taking his hand and standing up. "She'll cry that you don't like it if you don't eat it all. I propose we go to BreadstiX, since that's the only place we can both always agree on. Well, that and the Lima Bean but it's too far of a drive to get there. I never understood why the Lima Bean wasn't in Lima."

"It used to be in Lima, but the owners moved and reopened it closer to their new home." Blaine said smartly, nodding. "Thirty years ago."

"How do you know _everything_?" Kurt led him to the door and held it open.

"Because I read a lot. Actually… it really annoyed me, so that's why I looked it up." He said, raising his index finger up in an "aha!" kind of way that he always did when he corrected himself.

"That would annoy you. The weirdest things bother you, Blaine." He snorted. "Come on, are you going to stand in the doorway forever?"

"What would you do if I said yes?" His boyfriend smirked a bit.

"I'd leave you because I am hungry." Kurt responded cheerfully, causing Blaine to scoff and fake an offended look. "Come on, Blaine. You were the one saying you wanted to spend time with me at home. Which means you probably think we'll have sex at some point today."

"Do not." Blaine muttered, but pointedly avoided making eye contact with the slightly taller boy as he finally left the doorway.

Kurt jogged to keep up with him and then whispered in his ear, "You're so addicted to my body." Blaine immediately turned bright red and mouthed wordlessly, making Kurt grin again playfully. "Aren't you? Hmm?"

"Stop it, Kurt." He finally mumbled.

" _If you want my body and you think I'm sexy—."_ He began to sing as they reached the car.

"What were _you_ watching?" Blaine yelped, hazel eyes doubling in size. He went pale and stared at his boyfriend in shock.

"Oh, I didn't watch anything!" Kurt beamed. "Wes called me last night when you were in class and we talked."

"I do not approve of this friendship blossoming between you two. You're not mature enough to ignore what he says."

" _You got drunk and serenaded Thad with Do Ya Think I'm Sexy!"_

"He's not gay!"

"Yes, he is! And you just walked right up to him, crawled on him, practically gave him a lap dance, and serenaded him! All this time I wondered why he was so obsessed with you. Well, this is why. He probably thought you liked him back… Wait, is there a video of this?"

"No." Blaine said too quickly. "Absolutely no video whatsoever."

Kurt made his way the driver side, whipping out his phone.

" _Who are you texting_?"

"Wesley. I've got to see this video."

"Wesley doesn't have it." Blaine said happily, climbing into the passenger seat.

"Well, who has it? Wesley will know…" he waited a few seconds, then reached into Blaine's pocket.

"Oh my God, Kurt, what are you doing?" Blaine squealed, trying to wiggle away.

"Getting Trent's number out of your phone." He said simply, amused. It wasn't often that Blaine tried to move away when Kurt's hands were anywhere below his stomach. Finally he pulled the phone out. Blaine kept leaning over him, trying to get it, but it was no use. That extra inch and a half went a long way when the both of them had somehow ended up, half way in the back seat, and Kurt had his arm outstretched as far as it would go. "Blaine, no! Move, you crazy buffoon!"

"Gimmemuhphone!" Blaine grunted. "I'll tickle you! I will tickle you, Kurt!"

"Don't you dare, Blaine Anderson. I'll kick you!" Kurt squealed, now trying to work his way into the back seat. It was no use though. While he kept a firm hold on Blaine's phone, Blaine's hands slid up his shirt and began ticking his side. " _Oh God, Blaine, no! No!"_ he cried, laughing and jerking violently in a way that would have left him crying out in pain mere months before. " _Stop it, stop! Nooo_!"

"Drop the phone, Kurt!"

" _N-N-Never_!"

Blaine continued tickling him, waiting for him to be in a fit of giggles so hard that he wouldn't notice him reaching for the phone. "Alright, then. I just had all that sugar. My energy will last quite some time."

" _Oh God_." Kurt whimpered, giggling. " _It hurts_!"

"No it doesn't. You're not laughing that hard yet. You should be ashamed, making up pains to get out of being tickled. Using your injury to your advantage. What kind of person are you?"

" _I'm sorry! It doesn't hurt! It doesn't huuurt! Stoooop_!" Kurt giggled. " _Stoooop! I can't breathe! Blaine, stop!_ "

"Drop it!"

" _No!"_

Kurt reached back and smacked him across the head, surprising him, and then climbed into the back seat. "Stay where you are!"

"You aren't getting that number! Gimme my phone!" Blaine asked, moving to climb back as well.

"You can't have your feet on my seats!" Kurt gasped.

Blaine grinned. "You can't get that number. And I stepped in mud yesterday, too. It's dried on my shoe."

Kurt's eyes widened. Oh hell no. Not on _his_ seats. His expensive seats. His expensive spotless seats. "You're lying." He said, trying to sound confident.

"Are you _sure_ about that, Kurt?"

"Blaine, don't!" he squealed.

"Give me my phone."

"B-but Blaine—." He whined. He _really_ wanted to see that video. He didn't see why Blaine wouldn't tell him why he'd been arrested or what was meant by _skinny jeans_. And now he couldn't see a video of Blaine serenading Thad? It wasn't fair.

"Phone." Blaine outstretched his hand.

" _No_!" Kurt said stubbornly, cradling it to his chest.

"You know, it may have even been dog poop." His boyfriend tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Take it!" Kurt squealed, throwing the phone at his head. "And get those shoes off in my car _right this minute_!"

"Hey no—OH MY GOD!"

"Open the door." Rachel Berry said through the window.

"Yeah, while watching you all act like predatory lions is cute and all, we've got stuff to talk about." Mercedes Jones said.

"Serious things." Tina Cohen-Chang added.

Blaine looked at Kurt before opening the car door. Mercedes got into the driver's seat and, after Kurt opened the back door, Rachel and Tina got into the back. "If this is about a duet with you, Rachel, the answer is still no." Blaine sighed.

"This, Blaine Warbler, is more important than a duet with you. Besides, Kurt threatened to disown me as a friend if I kept asking you. I've moved on. Sam is taller than you anyway, and it makes us look positively _adorable_ in a stage setting. Plus, your voice is getting a little generic." Rachel said dismissively, waving a hand in the air.

"Excuse me? My voice is not generic, Rachel Berry. If it weren't for Brittany and Mike's dancing and _Santana's_ solo, the Warblers would have won Sectionals last year and you wouldn't have even made it to Nationals. Which you lost, by the way." Blaine scoffed.

"I don't think Finn would appreciate the way you talked to me just then. You know what? You like me. You do. We had an amazing time on that date, Blaine. There was _chemistry_. I think you're worried if you spend time with me you'll become even more sexually attracted to me. Let's face it. I'm very much like your boyfriend in many ways and I'm a girl. If you wanted the easy way out, I'd be the perfect substitute. And I've always wanted vaguely Eurasian looking babies."

"Rachel!" Kurt and Mercedes gasped together.

Rachel, however, did not take notice of this and continued. "It's okay if you're attracted to me like that, Blaine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being bisexual, contrary to what Kurt said. In fact, most people are nowadays. It's, like, the new straight. Especially for us young people. And several 'gay' people are deciding they're straight after college anyway. But you should know that I am in no way attracted to you because I love Kurt's brother. He's more a man than you'll ever be and he's not afraid to admit his _true_ feelings. So if you do decide your gay after college, please don't call me."

"Could she have been any more offensive in that statement?" Tina wondered aloud, eyes wide.

Blaine opened his mouth several times, eyes flashing angrily. He then sent Kurt a look that clearly said, _I. Hate. Her._ And at that point in time, Kurt couldn't really blame him He couldn't even begin to explain how angry that statement had made him. Bisexual being the new straight? Gay people changing their minds after college? _Her dads were gay!_ How could she have a mindset like that? And he didn't even want to get started on the fact that she said "Finn admits his true feelings." Finn had dated a girl he didn't like for months while he pined after Rachel. Sure, he'd finally done the right thing. But it hadn't been _that_ long ago that he'd done the _wrong_ thing, so Kurt was pretty sure she was giving Finn way too much credit.

Finally, Blaine seemed to come up with an appropriate response. He opened his mouth and retorted, "Right. I sleep in a bed with _Kurt Hummel_ but I'm really pining after you, Rachel Berry, the world's biggest attention whore."

"Oh boy." Mercedes moaned, shaking her head.

"Think there'll be a Diva Off?" Tina said, not able to contain the excitement in her voice. "That would be awesome. We'll even remember this one."

Mercedes sighed, deciding to bring the conversation back to the topic at hand before the discussion got any worse. "Kurt, we've got something important to talk to you about. Yo—."

Rachel interrupted. "You're not going to prom? You think you can just announce something like that after glee club and drive off? Well, you can't!"

"And you… tracked me down in a parking lot to tell me that I can't say I'm going to prom and drive off _because_?" Kurt asked slowly. He said it in a sweet voice, but the look on his face was proof that his sweetness was very sarcastic. "Tracked me down and _then_ insulted not on my _boyfriend_ , whom loves mean and not you, but basically every other gay teenager in college or younger?"

"This is a Promvention, Kurt Hummel. You are going to prom." She replied.

"I refuse to participate in a Promvention. I don't know why you girls are depressed. I told Rachel and Mercedes at their sleepover months ago and, Tina, you don't seem like the person to really care about prom."

Rachel spun to look at him, as her attention had been focused on glaring daggers at Blaine. "Kurt, you cannot ruin my chance at the perfect family prom picture. Me, Finn, you, and Blaine all in prom attire. We'll show our _children_ one day, Kurt. Wouldn't it be the perfect picture?" she let out a dreamy sigh and then narrowed her eyes. "No. You aren't taking it from me. You are going to prom."

"I thought this was about how Kurt loves dressing up for things like prom and how we don't want him to regret not going." Mercedes said sharply, sending a glare in Rachel's direction. "Baby, you've got to go to prom with us. I know what happened last year sucked but you can't let that scare you away from going this year. You have to show the kids that voted you Prom Queen and those idiots that beat you up that you don't care. What if you regret not going?"

"I'm not scared. It has nothing to do with those boys or that hideous tiara I've got stowed away." Kurt said simply, and very honestly. "I just have no interest in going to prom this year. I mean, I already won prom queen. What else is there for me to do?" he gave Mercedes a smile. "I'll be fine, 'Cedes. I promise. I'm not scared to go or anything. I just don't _want_ to. I think one prom experience was enough for me."

"Prom is _so_ you, though, Kurt." Tina said. "You even looked dress up in Gym."

"Come _on_ , Kurt."

"You _have_ to go."

"Kurt—"

" _The pictures!"_

Kurt gritted his teeth a bit, beginning to lose patience. He knew that they had good intentions, but he really just _did not want to go to prom_. He wasn't scared. He wasn't longingly staring at the prom posters in the hallways wishing he was going like he'd done in his freshman and sophomore years. In fact, he was _glad_ he wasn't going. CSI: Gymnasium as a prom theme? Uh, no. What, were they going to kill Figgins and you couldn't leave the prom until you found his body? Thank you, but no thank you. Kurt would much rather drive to Columbus to the Cheesecake Factory with Blaine like they had agreed to do. They even planned on going to CCAD to look around while they were there if they arrived in Columbus early enough and could find it. They were going to have a good time. He'd had his few slow dances with his boyfriend at his last prom. He had his prom picture up on his wall next to his bed and another bigger one alongside Finn's on the living room mantle. He still had the tickets and the tiara. He had lived through the experience, the whole experience, and did not want to do so again.

"Okay." He raised his voice. The girls looked triumphant at first, thinking he was agreeing to go, but this didn't last long. " _I am not going to prom._ I don't want to go. I ate the crappy food last time, I stayed in the cramped gym with our entire upper-class, I wore an awesome kilt, I wasted $40 on a ticket, I had some good dances, and I am done with prom. Okay? I'm not scared, I'm not going to regret not going. I just _don't want to go_. Now if anyone has a problem with it _, I don't care._ I will help you pick out gorgeous dresses; I will go through Facebook pictures and laugh at the ugly tuxes and dresses; I will listen to _all_ of the stories you want to tell. _But I am not going_. Blaine and I are going to go to Columbus and have an excellent time. It will be better because we won't have to smell sweaty boys who don't know how to properly bathe and sweaty girls who drench themselves in cheap perfume. The next day, I'm going down to Kentucky with him to register for classes early in the morning. So, _I am not going_."

"But—."

"Rachel Berry, shut up! What do you care as long as Finn goes?"

"Are you—."

"Yes, Tina, I am sure."

"But—."

"You can't change my mind. You can be upset all you want. But I'm not going." Kurt spoke in a firm voice with a definite tone of finality.

"Kurt—."

"This is supposed to be my one year anniversary! We're about to go to dinner and you are _ruining it_! I don't want to go to prom, Rachel! And don't think you can come back later and try to bully Blaine into making me go because I know it's going through your head! I don't want to go to prom! _I don't want to go to prom!_ Alright? Carole's about to have a baby, I'm about to have to go to a trial and see the people that almost killed me, Mr. Schue is annoyed I don't want to go to Nationals with you all! I'm trying to move out of my house with Blaine and Finn keeps eating everything good in the fridge! I realize half of this has nothing to do with prom but _I don't want to go!"_ Kurt suddenly exclaimed. All patience had been lost. He took in a deep breath.

"Look, guys," Blaine sighed. "What Kurt is trying to say is that a lot of stressful things are going on right now and prom would just add more stress. That's why we're going to go do something that isn't stressful. He needs to relax and not do something to add to the problem. If Kurt doesn't want to go to prom, you shouldn't make him feel bad about it. We all know he'd go if he wanted to. Kurt doesn't let other people keep him away from things he loves."

"Now I feel bad. You made us do this on their anniversary?" Tina muttered, looking at Rachel in disbelief. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I had no idea."

"It's not like they've been together five years or anything." She scoffed and faced Kurt. "Fine. If you really choose to not give me the family prom pictures I'm drea—."

"Come on, Miss Bossy Pants." Mercedes got out of the car and forcibly dragged Rachel out as Kurt opened his mouth to say something that was definitely not something anyone under the age of fifteen should have heard. "Kurt, baby, enjoy your day and call me tonight. It sounds like you need a phone date. We'll watch America's Next Top Model and chat over the commercials, okay?

"Okay." Kurt muttered.

"I hope we didn't really ruin your day, Kurt." Tina patted his hand and got out. The girls waved goodbye (Well, Rachel did not wave and continued going on about perfect family prom pictures) and got back into Rachel's tiny car.

Kurt maintained his seat in the back, arms crossed over his chest and scowling.

"I can't believe I'm saying this…" Blaine muttered. "Want Trent's phone number?"

"Yes." Kurt muttered back, glaring out the window in Rachel's' general direction.

"Fine. I'll get the video for you tonight if you come back up here."

"I just want to pout irrationally for a few minutes." Kurt tucked his feet underneath him, head against the car window, and sat silently.

Blaine, still in the passenger seat, leaned his head against the window also. He glanced at Kurt briefly, as Kurt was in the back on the other side of the car and he could do so. "I thought you weren't bothered with all that right now." He spoke gently.

"Well I wasn't until she started bringing up stressful things." Kurt pulled himself into a sitting position.

His boyfriend did the same, facing Kurt from the front seat. "You knew Rachel would pull something after how calmly she reacted to you saying you didn't want to go to Nationals with them. You said so yourself."

"I just like my bubble when I'm alone with you and I can forget everything else, okay? If I sat and thought about this trial all the time, I-I'd go crazy. They're walking around now, Blaine. They could be in there right now!" He pointed at the door of the frozen yogurt shop. "They could be anywhere."

Blaine got out of the car and then opened the back door, crawling in with him. "I know."

"I just don't want to think about it. You don't like thinking about your parents? Well I don't like dwelling on _this_." He gestured with his hands and then shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't want to think about this today. I didn't want to think about it today. Damn Rachel."

"Kurt, you were thinking about it on some level." Blaine watched him sympathetically.

He chewed on his nail anxiously. "I want it to go away. That's all. I want it to… I want… I want closure. I r-really want closure, Blaine." No. He wasn't going to get upset. Not today. Today was going to be a good day, _their_ day. They'd been together for a year, they had gotten through so much, and they were in _love_. He was in love with Blaine, Blaine was in love with him, and nothing else was supposed to matter today.

"You'll get it, my love. I promise." Blaine grabbed his hand and held on tightly. There it was again, Blaine grabbing his hand and every problem seeming to get just a little smaller, a little easier to handle. "June 7th we will go into that court room and they'll see that you're okay. You won, Kurt. They tried to break you down and you didn't let them win. You'll see them go to jail for what they did to you and those other people. And then you'll have your closure."

"Do you think that will really give me closure?" he asked quietly, looking down at their hands.

"Yes." Blaine said confidently. "I do. Now we are going to move into the front seat, we are going to go have an amazing dinner in our booth at BreadstiX, we are going to take Carole and Burt back some dessert, we'll eat whatever dinner Carole's cooked for us, then we'll organize the new stuff because I know it's killing you, and then we'll lay down and just be together. Okay? Who cares about stupid prom? The Cheesecake Factory in Columbus is going to be _so much_ better. And we'll even bring home cheesecakes. Plural. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"And fattening." Kurt mumbled, but his lips curved upward in a smile. "Okay, I'm down with that. I think it sounds like a fantastic end to our first year anniversary, Blaine Anderson."

"Just imagine our _next_ first year anniversary." Blaine beamed at him. "I feel like there will be a lot more sex. Don't you?"

" _If you want my body, and you think I'm sexy, come on—."_

"I set myself up for that one, didn't I?"


	19. Chapter 19

The past three days, a lot of that had been going on. Kurt still had half of his room to pack, but he couldn't even seem to move enough to get out of bed. Blaine occasionally came in to check on him. He never lingered too long and usually he didn't even speak, just rested his hand on Kurt's leg and squeezed. Or squeezed his hand so tightly it was almost painful. And then he'd get up and leave, but that was okay because Kurt knew he was busy. They would be moving in two days. There was stuff to be done. People to call about having the electric and water turned on, people to call about having the television and internet set up. Packing the dinner table and chairs they were taking, and also, of course, his mother's dresser. The good thing about blended families was there was stuff in storage. They weren't having _everything_ handed down, but any little bit helped. They were having a new bed delivered directly to their new apartment, as well as a living room set. Then again, they were eighteen and nineteen. They didn't need all new stuff. This was only their first apartment. There would be time to collect their own new things later.

There was so much to be done and yet Kurt just sat down, staring at his empty walls and blinking. He'd changed his mind _so many times_ about going to the stupid trial. It had been keeping him up at night. Did he really want faces in his nightmares? Did he _reall_ y want to be so close to them in a closed room? Sure, his father and Blaine would be there. What could they really do, though, to protect him from three men that almost ended his life? That _did_ end someone else's life? What if the man just turned around, in front of the judge and all, and attacked him? Then and there?

_Like Dad would let that happen_ , he thought. But that was rational Kurt. Kurt didn't feel very rational lately. In fact he wasn't quite sure what he was feeling anymore, unless you could count feeling stretched as a feeling. Every time he would be happy, sad, mad, relaxed, or anxious the feelings would change or mesh together with other feelings so often that he felt like his body was literally being pulled in several different directions. It was not a pleasant feeling, either.

He looked up as he heard approaching footsteps in the hallway, sighing softly. It would be Blaine, checking on him again. Blaine must have been exhausted from checking on him so much because it was exhausting to Kurt to even think about how many times Blaine had been in and out of the room for no apparent reason at all apart from to offer a hand squeeze.

When the bedroom door opened without a knock, he saw that he had been right. Blaine walked into the room and did not stop until he reached the bed. He sat down on it, close enough to Kurt that he could wrap an arm around his waist. After doing so, he pressed a kiss to Kurt's jaw and let out a tiny sigh. "Dinner is done, honey."

"I'm not hungry. My stomach hurts too much to eat." Kurt whispered, shuffling closer to him. He didn't want Blaine to get up and leave this time. He wanted Blaine to hold him tighter, to kiss him and tell him it was all going to work out no matter what happened. He didn't want it. He _needed_ it.

Blaine pulled Kurt gently onto his lap and kissed the place behind his ear. "You need to at least eat something, Kurt… you've got Carole all worried. Stress isn't good for the baby."

Kurt heaved a huge sigh that made his chest sting just a bit, nuzzling his boyfriend's shoulder. Usually Blaine's arms were his safe place, but he seemed to have worked himself into such a frenzy that even Blaine's hugs didn't help. This was unfortunate, because Blaine's hugs had been the only thing to cheer him up these last few looming days. "Why isn't it helping? Usually when you hold me, it helps."

Blaine tugged him closer, arms wrapping even more tightly around him. "Oh, Kurt… Tomorrow it will all be over, sweetheart. Tomorrow it's over."

"I don't want to go anymore." Kurt mumbled into his shoulder. At this point it was habit to say this around once every hour. Truth be told, though, he didn't know what he really wanted. He just knew he hated this feeling of anxiousness, of being scared and unable to sleep without Blaine quietly singing in his ear. He didn't want to feel like a baby anymore. Blaine kept telling him he wasn't being a baby, but he was. And he really hated the look on Blaine's face when he pulled him close like that, because he was breaking Blaine's heart without even meaning to.

"Yes, you do." The older boy whispered, stroking his messy hair. "Yes, you do, my love."

"I don't want to regret it." Kurt whimpered, pressing closer. They could get no closer, but he tried. "I don't want to wish I hadn't gone."

"That won't happen." Blaine replied soothingly, fingers alternating between stroking his hair and rubbing his back. "But if you don't go, you'll regret it. Remember saying that? We're going. You already told your dad last night that you weren't allowed to change your mind."

"You don't understand." He whimpered. "Blaine, you don't get it."

"When I was beat up… it wasn't near as bad. But I do get it. And you know I regret, even today, not standing up to them." Blaine said softly, leaning back to look him in the eyes. "And you don't want that, Kurt. It's not an easy thing to live with. Running away from it… you'll regret it. And besides, that's not you. I run away from stuff all the time and… it sucks. But you're different. You never run away."

"I ran away from Karofsky." Kurt began chewing on his nails anxiously. It was weird because he never _used_ to be a nail biter. Not until things with Karofsky got bad in the beginning of his junior year. He didn't bite them obsessively, just when he had a lot going on. And right now he had a lot going on.

"Yeah. But you went back."

Blaine sat silently for a few minutes. He'd made his point, his very valid point. It was out there and if Kurt took it, good. Was anyone _really_ going to force him to go tomorrow? Of course not. That wasn't what Kurt needed to hear though. Really, Kurt just needed someone to sit with him while he figured things out for himself. That's how it used to be, before the attack, and now life was about going back to normal. Not this new kind of normal, but _normal_ normal where Kurt didn't want to sit in a far away booth to avoid stares while eating out with Blaine. They were trying to get back to the normal where Kurt would sit wherever, holding Blaine's hand, and not give a damn who thought what.

Kurt sighed, wanting a break from thinking about it. He needed to do something to keep his mind off of things. "Who can I call? What can I do?"

"Your dad and I already got the table and dresser into his truck." Blaine stroked his cheek, eyes on his. "And there are two chairs in my car and two in yours. Burt said he may go on and take the load up tomorrow after… after the trial, depending on how late it runs. I've called about the electric, gas, water, and the cable people for the internet, the TV, and phone. I think almost everything we're taking with us is packed. I think everything is done. Don't worry. Just relax."

"That's a little impossible right now." Kurt crawled out of bed and began to pace, very much like his father did when he was stressed. "Am I making the right decision?"

Blaine stood and grasped his hand.

"What?"

"Our TV is in your car. We're going downstairs."

"For what?"

Blaine led him downstairs and seated him on the couch, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "You'll see. I'll be right back."

"Blaine, what are you doing?" he asked again, not really wanting to be left alone in the room. It was irrational, he knew it, but he couldn't help but be nervous right now.

"I'll be right back, my love. I promise." He kissed his cheek and then went outside the front door, grabbing his car keys.

Kurt began chewing his nails again anxiously as he waited for his boyfriend to return. It seemed to take ages but he eventually did return several minutes later, only he walked back in from inside the kitchen instead of through the front door. He came bearing a bowl of popcorn and a movie tucked between his side and his elbow as he walked.

"It took me a bit to find it, but I managed to get it out of one of the boxes in your trunk."

"What?" Kurt asked blankly, taking the bowl of popcorn from him. Blaine held it up and a small smile lit up Kurt's entire face. "Lady and the Tramp!"

"Your favorite!" Blaine said proudly, standing very tall. "And your favorite Kettle Corn popcorn, even though I think buttered normal popcorn is ten times better. I think we've earned this time being lazy and doing nothing, don't you?"

"Yes." Kurt patted the spot beside him and, when Blaine finally sat down after putting the DVD in, curled right up to him. He rested his head on Blaine's chest and listened to his breathing, feeling more at ease than he had in three days. Blaine kept one arm around him, rubbing his arm, and he occasionally grabbed handfuls of the popcorn he "hated" with his other hand. Kurt had a feeling, though, that Blaine would eat anything that fell under the food classification if it was in front of him long enough. Unless it was celery, of course. It was sort of cute.

"The beginning and end of this movie always makes me want Christmas." His boyfriend said thoughtfully, watching the screen.

"Well you're in for a hell of a wait." Burt grunted walking through.

"Or since we're about to move out on our own, we can set up a tree early." Blaine said.

"No, we can't. And _Blaine, I want a new puppy!_ " he waited several seconds before pointing at the screen and exclaiming, "Blaine! She's crying! I want a new puppy!"

"This is why you never let him watch movies with animals." Burt warned. "I can't tell you how many fits he threw when he was little for a dog after this damn movie."

"Lady is so smart." Kurt said proudly as the adorable puppy on the screen finally broke free from the closed and blocked door. "Like my puppy."

"Kreacher isn't smart." His boyfriend snorted, but Kurt chose to ignore this.

"We can get a lady dog, Blaine, and they can be Lady and the Tramp! _Oh my God! Why didn't this occur to me before?_ "

"One dog is enough for now. Maybe once you train him to stop eating my phone charger… and shoes… and _books_."

"He's your dog too." Kurt said haughtily. "You can train him too, you know. Since _you're_ the one who can't seem to remember to put _your_ stuff up."

"I've tried to train him. But he whimpers and you just pick him up and rock him like he's a baby." Blaine muttered. "Maybe I should send you away for a week while I train him."

Kurt elbowed him surprisingly hard in his side, glaring. "Or maybe I'll make you sleep on the couch for a week and he can take your spot!"

Blaine just leaned over and kissed his cheek, unfazed. "You wouldn't be able to sleep without me there and you know it. You'd be whining for me in less than two minutes."

Kurt bent his head and nuzzled Blaine, rather affectionately for someone who had just elbowed him almost hard enough to leave a bruise. Kurt was much stronger than he looked.

"You are something else, Kurt." Blaine laughed, pulling Kurt onto his lap. "Do you feel better?"

"I might feel better if we go and get a cocker spaniel puppy tomorrow." He retorted, making himself comfortable. Blaine's fingers slid under his shirt and stroked his stomach gently, eyes on the movie and not even responding to his statement. "It's not nice to ignore people."

Blaine kissed his cheek from behind. "I think we have more than enough responsibility with _that thing_." He pointed to Kreacher, who had taken that very moment to run into the room and skid to a stop in front of their feet, tilting his head to the side as if waiting for Kurt to pick him up.

"Don't call him a _thing_." Kurt cooed, reaching down and scooping his puppy up. "I think Blaine is just jealous of my puppy. Don't you, Kreacher?"

"Of course I am. The minute he prances into the room you pay more attention to him than you pay to me in an entire day." The older boy scoffed.

"I pay plenty of attention to you." Kurt re-situated himself next to Blaine. "Aw, look. He likes you."

Kreacher padded to Blaine, turned three times, and finally rested between the boys with his head on Blaine's thigh.

"No. He's pretending. When you leave, he'll start growling at me." Blaine leaned his head on Kurt's shoulder, attention returning to the screen. The boys, and the dog, remained silent for the remainder of the movie.

When Blaine looked down as the credits began to roll, he discovered why. Kurt was fast asleep, his hand on Kreacher's head, his own head lolling to the side, and his mouth slightly open. Kreacher was also asleep, looking sweeter than ever. "Kreacher, move." Kreacher cracked open an eye and growled. "Down. Just for a minute." He lowered his head again. "Fine." Blaine hoisted the dog up, sitting him down on the floor. He then stood, ignoring the dog's loud growls, and moved Kurt into a laying position.

Kurt let out several whimpers.

"Shh, shh. I'm right here." Blaine whispered, lying next to him on the couch. He knew if Kurt didn't fall back asleep straight away, that the boy wouldn't get any sleep until the following night. Otherwise, he'd have taken him up to bed to lie down. No, Kurt needed to stay on the couch.

"Mmhbed?"

"Go back to sleep, my love." He kissed Kurt gently. "I'm right here."

"D-Don't leave me." Kurt shifted, shuffling closer to Blaine.

"Never." Blaine vowed. "Good night."

Kurt let out a soft snore, hand rested flat on Blaine's chest. It was only nine o'clock, dishes hadn't even been done yet from dinner, and Kurt was already asleep.

Blaine didn't move, though. He didn't fall asleep for hours. Because the closer it got to eight in the morning, the harder it became to breathe properly. If he had been Kurt, he _never_ would have gone to face his attackers. _Never_. Then again, that was the big difference between the two. Blaine could be very inclusive about his sexuality at times. He was out, he was proud, but that didn't mean he liked to put himself out there and in the position to get hurt. Kurt, however, just didn't care. He would walk into the courtroom tomorrow the same way he marched into McKinley's gymnasium to get his tiara a little over a year ago. That really scared Blaine, in some ways. What if he was a little to brave in front of the wrong person a year from now, five years from now? Maybe next time, Kurt would be the one to die…

* * *

The next morning arrived much quicker than Kurt wanted it to. He felt like he'd barely fallen back asleep, curled up on the couch with Blaine, when Carole had gently shaken him away. He showered, but it wasn't very thorough because his mind was elsewhere and he kept forgetting where he had already washed himself. He was going to style his hair, but his hand was shaking too much to even properly dry it with a blow dryer so he had had to, against his better judgment, let his hair air dry. He had forced down some toast only after Carole had begun to cry that he was going to get sick, and now he was in the parking lot of the courthouse feeling like his heart was about to beat right out of his body.

"I don't care what happens in there. It changes nothing." His father spoke in a firm but gentle voice. "This is about closure and nothing else. You've won, Kurt. I don't care if they only get locked up for three days, kiddo. You won."

"I know, Dad." Kurt sighed, but didn't move to get out of the car.

"And you're going to be fine. Blaine and I are right here."

"I know, Dad."

"Finn would have been, but Carole—."

"Dad, I know. You're making my head hurt." Kurt began chewing on his nails. He was surprised he even had nails left after yesterday, though. Blaine gently took his hands, both of them, and held them in his own. "Let's just go inside, alright?"

"Kurt… fine. Let's go." Burt opened the driver side door and got out.

Kurt opened the door to the back seat after freeing his hands and held it open for Blaine. Blaine instantly scooted right next to him, their sides touching, and grabbed his hand. Kurt was freaking out a little on the inside and was surprised he could even walk, if he was perfectly honest, but Blaine's presence really helped.

Burt made his way on in to the courthouse, but Kurt stopped at the stairs leading up to the entrance and looked at Blaine with huge blue eyes. "Blaine, I c-can't do this. Can we go home?"

"We both know that can't happen." Blaine whispered, heart falling to his stomach. He saw Burt turn and look at him through the glass door, but the man didn't come outside. It was probably better that way, though. Burt would have only got frustrated with Kurt, unlike Blaine.

"Dad can tell me what happens."

"It won't be the same."

Kurt pursed his lips together and began wringing his hands. "No. I can't do this." He stiffened as some people walked up the stairs past them, but they were just lawyers and one police officer so he relaxed. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, which he now really wished he had fixed. "No. No. Let's go back to the car, please. I can't. My stomach hurts."

"I know, I know." Blaine felt a lump in his throat. It was killing him to see Kurt like this, because it reminded him of those first days where Kurt wasn't heavily drugged. Those days had been absolute hell. "But you've got to do this, Kurt. You'll _never_ forgive yourself if you don't, honey."

"You don't know that!" Kurt whispered. "Blaine, you don't know that!"

"Yes. I do. Come on, Kurt. Stop." Blaine grabbed his hand. "Stop."

"I can't do this, I can't do this. Please, Blaine, don't make me. Please. I-I'll sit in the car. Go tell Dad we're not going. O-Or I'll sit in the car alone." His voice kept cracking and he was close to tears. It made Blaine want to cry too. " _Please_."

Blaine placed his hand underneath Kurt's elbow and guided him up the stairs. Kurt did not protest, surprisingly. Instead he let out several shaky breaths, reaching his other hand across his body to grip Blaine's shirt. Burt held open the door silently as Blaine led him through, whispering soothingly. "You're doing fine, Kurt. This will be over soon and we'll go home and never have to do anything like this again. I promise."

"I don't think I can do this." He said in a quiet voice.

"Kid, if we didn't think you could do this, you wouldn't be here right now." His father said gruffly. "If I thought this wasn't what you needed, I'd have had you moved to Cincinnati the day after your graduation. You've got to _move on_. This will help you do that."

"What if it doesn't? What if it makes it worse?"

"I guess now is when you decide what kind of man you are then." Burt nudged him forward. "We're both right here. They won't let us in the room for a while, so we're going to have to wait. Why don't you sit down or something?"

"I don't want to sit." Kurt muttered, beginning to walk back and forth—but making _damn_ sure he stayed very close to his father and boyfriend.

He was here. He couldn't leave.

But he really wanted to leave.

He thought it would be easier than this.

Why did he think it would be easier than this?

Then again, did he really? He'd freaked out periodically, but the fact that he'd been freaking out more the closer it got had to say something.

"You're going to make yourself sick going in circles like that." Blaine whispered, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders. "Let's sit down with your dad."

"Can we go back outside? I need some air." Kurt didn't wait for Blaine to respond. He just shrugged free of his boyfriend's grasp and walked out the door, not stopping until he was out at the sidewalk. It was the farthest he could get from the building without being in the street. He wasn't going to try to pull anything stupid, he just wanted as far away from that damn building as possible. For now, at least for now, so he could calm his nerves and remember why he was there. He was there because he was strong, because he knew it needed to be done, because he was better than the people who had put him in the hospital, because he won, and because, finally, it was almost _over_.

It was almost over. He just had to think about it rationally. How long could standing up in front of a judge, pleading guilty, and being sentenced really take? Burt's lawyer for the garage, although not experienced in this type of case, had said it should be very short because it was a special kind of trial. The men would come in, stand in front of the judge, plead guilty or not guilty (although, if all went according to plan, the men would all three plead guilty to avoid a trial and longer sentencing), they would be sentenced, and they would be led out by police officers. The men would each go separately. First, the man who actually physically injured Kurt and the other boys. He was the one more likely, supposedly, to get a lengthier sentence. Then the other two would follow.

It was almost over. He just had to get through that and he could go home and they could take the first load up to Cincinnati in his father's truck and he could go to the Lima Bean for one last coffee with Blaine before they moved, and they could finish packing and tomorrow they would move out, this would be over, they would live together. And they would be happy with their dog and David would live close by. He would start school in August, get a job, and just _live_.

Life could start.

After this was over, his life could really start again.

Because he'd been coping.

Honestly, he had.

And sometimes he'd even been genuinely happy.

But his attack and that fear was always there, and it always came about in different ways. The aftermaths of the attack would come to haunt him both physically and emotionally. He'd laugh really hard and feel an abrupt sharp pain in his chest that reminded him of the fact that his lung was still healing, even to this day. Or he'd wake up in the middle of the night coughing and unable to stop until he'd stumbled to the bathroom to get water, or until Blaine woke up to get him some. Lately they just kept a glass next to the bed to avoid stubbed toes, tripping over shoes, and tripping over certain angry animals. Sometimes he would just wake up really weak and not even be able to go to school—it wasn't that he was tired and he couldn't explain it all the time, but he knew it was from his injuries. Occasionally he'd wake up shaking, not remembering his dream but knowing it was of the attack. He'd be at the grocery store or the mall and all of a sudden get really paranoid. This hardly ever happened when he was with Blaine; it was more likely to happen if he were grocery shopping with Carole or just out and about with Rachel and Mercedes. That was probably the worst. The sudden fear that he'd get for seemingly no reason at all.

So, yeah, he had been happy… but he couldn't lie and say he was all better and that he felt no effects of his attack anymore. But after today… they'd be in jail. It really would be over. At least the emotional aspect would be better. This was because even when they got out of jail, he'd be living more than two hours away. Not only this, but who knew how different he would look when the men actually got out of jail? Alright, his appearance wouldn't change _that_ much. But he'd look different all the same. And, depending on how long it was, he might not even be living in Ohio. He had convinced himself that this really was the end, that after this everything would go back to normal.

"Kurt…" Blaine sighed softly, coming to a stop directly in front of him a few minutes later. He looked his boyfriend over, hazel eyes soft and concerned. "Do you want to go home? I'll take you home if you really want to go. And then I'll come back and pick up your dad. If it's _really_ what you want." He touched Kurt's arm and left his fingers there, meeting his eyes.

"No, no, no. Yes. But no. _I have to stay_." Kurt said firmly, raising his hands into the air a bit. "I want to go home, I really do, but… but I have to stay. And I'm going to."

"You drive me crazy, you know?" Blaine gave him a tiny smile."I can only imagine how crazy you drive yourself though."

"I've gotten used to it by now." Kurt mumbled softly. "It's just… I don't know… how to explain it."

"We've got a little bit before we have to go in." His boyfriend whispered, leading him towards the building so they could sit down outside of it on one of the benches. "You can try."

"I'll try…" He pursed his lips again, staring ahead as they sat on the cold green metal bench. "It's just… I know I want to do it. I know I need to do it and if we could just go in there and _do it_ , then I'd be fine… But this waiting. I-I've been waiting for months." He looked up and took a shuddery breath, feeling himself starting to break down. He wanted to cry. "I've been waiting for m-months and I just… it's worse than waiting for a root canal, Blaine. It's m-making me a w-wreck and I just… My God. _I feel like such a baby."_

"No, Kurt." Blaine moved his hand up and down his arm in a soothing way, sitting down next to him. "You're not a baby. Not at all."

"This is just so hard." He whispered, his face screwing up. He tried to tell himself not to cry but it was no use. This had been coming all morning. He didn't even know if he was crying because he was upset or if it was just his nerves. There was no stopping the tears, though, once they began to fall. He was honestly surprised that his voice sounded as composed as it did. "I just want my life back. I just want to feel n-n-normal."

Blaine pulled him close so his head was resting on his chest and whispered sweet nothings in his ear, rocking him. "It's almost over… I promise, it's almost over, honey… shh… oh, Kurt… shh. Everything is going to go back to normal soon, my love. I promise. I promise."

Kurt didn't notice all of the people passing them, sending them strange looks, as they walked into the court building. In fact, it took several minutes for him to even look up from Blaine's chest. The second he lifted his head Blaine leaned down, kissing his forehead, his cheek, his other cheek, and finally his lips.

"Are we all better?" he whispered, wiping Kurt's eyes with the underside of his thumb carefully.

Kurt shuddered a bit, taking a deep breath. For a minute he thought he was going to cry again, but instead he nodded, sitting up a little straighter. "Yes. I just… Give me a few more minutes and we can go in. "

"Okay." Blaine nodded, kissing the top of his head. "Just tell me when you're ready and we'll make our way in."

Kurt leaned against Blaine, staring at his boyfriend's watch. Exactly five minutes and twenty-three seconds passed before Kurt took one last deep breath and stood up as straight as he could. Blaine grabbed his hand and stood with him, kissed his cheek, and walked them over to the door.

"I can do this." Kurt whispered, extending his hand, gripping the handle, and pulling the door open. Blaine raised his hand over Kurt's head, holding the door open for the younger boy, and then followed him back through the courthouse and to Burt.

"You okay, kiddo?" Burt asked gruffly, scooting over on the bench and making room for the boys while eyeing his son.

"I'm fine." Kurt answered, holding his head up high.

"Alright, then." His father nodded. "I think after we leave here we should all three go and get some lunch and then take up the kitchen table and dresser tonight. That only leaves the boxes, and I think we can fit all of those between my truck and your boys' cars tomorrow, right?"

Kurt wasn't sure whether his dad was trying to distract him or himself, but he was grateful for the distraction either way. "Yeah. It may be close, but we're going to be back down Friday for dinner anyway, so if we can't take everything we'll be okay until then."

"Everything packed?" Burt looked between the two boys.

"About ninety percent." Blaine shrugged. "It won't take very much time at all to get packed the rest of the way."

"Good." Burt sighed a bit and looked down at his watch. "It's about fifteen until nine. I'm going to go to the bathroom and I'll be right back." He patted Kurt's knee twice and pushed himself up, heading down the hallway.

It happened all at once.

Kurt's breath caught in his throat. It took a few seconds to register, but sirens were going off in his head. The man coming down the hall, down the hall he wasn't supposed to come down, was _him_. The man that had attacked him within an inch of his life. He wasn't supposed to have to see this man until he was a in a room full of police officers and lawyers for the sentencing. When he saw the man he was supposed to be seated between Blaine and his father, very protected. Safe. The man would be facing the opposite way, looking at the judge, and Kurt was not supposed to be seen. The men who attacked him weren't even supposed to be using the main entrance! He'd been promised that he wouldn't have to see the man, or rather, that the man would not have to see _him_.

Kurt felt his eyes widened as he stared at the man. He knew he hadn't been able to make out the man the night of his attack because it was such a dark area but he just _knew_ that this was the guy that had grabbed him that night and attacked him. He just _knew_. The man was older and Kurt guessed that he was around his father's age if not a little older. He was a big man, with the build of someone who would be a security guard or a police officer, and he was bald. He looked completely average though. The man smiled and he looked like anyone you might run into in the grocery store. He looked normal.

Blaine's hand rested on his lower back and he leaned over, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Blaine." Kurt whimpered, fingers curling around the fabric of Blaine's t-shirt.

"You're fine. You're doing good, my love." He whispered softly, kissing his head again.

"No, Blaine… t-there he is."

Blaine stiffened, eyes widening. "They're supposed to not be going through here, Kurt. You have to be wrong. They're not _allowed_ to come in this way."

" _That's him_." Kurt's voice shook and his hand instinctively tightened it's grip on Blaine's shirt as the man, who was now laughing with some woman, began to look in their direction. He went very rigid. Did he look away? Did he meet his eyes? What if the guy just ran at him and starting attacking him again? Why had Kurt thought he could handle this? "Blaine, _that's him."_

The man and woman began walking over. If Blaine needed any more reassurance that it _was_ the man, the creep finally noticed a horrified Kurt and smirked over at them in a satisfied way. His eyes lingered over Blaine, going up and down. Kurt's stomach twisted in knots and in an instant he had stood, attempting to block his boyfriend from the man's view. His fingers still clutched his boyfriend's shirt tightly, so tightly that when he let go the fabric would probably be permanently wrinkled, but it didn't matter. He pulled Blaine closer, as if he didn't want the man to have time to memorize what he looked like. In his mind, at that moment, nothing mattered more than shielding Blaine. Because nobody, no one, was ever going to do anything to his boyfriend as long as he could help it

Blaine couldn't look away though, not even as Burt walked up. "Think this will—? Kid, what's wrong? Do you need some wat—?" he noticed Kurt's wide eyes on someone, how he gripped Blaine in a scared way but also a somewhat defensive one, and how Blaine just stared at the same man Kurt was watching, eyes narrowed.

The man walked past and leaned over Burt's shoulder. "You look a little scared, Pretty Boy. Don't worry. I won't be coming after _you_ next time." His eyes lingered on Blaine.

Kurt stood, rigid. His mouth wouldn't even open. Burt had opened his mouth to say something, his fist rising, just as a lawyer came up. "Come on, Chad. They're ready for us." As he pulled the man away he hissed, _"You know you can't talk to anyone. Are you trying to lose this case?"_

"I'm going to find a police officer." Burt growled. "What did he do before I got out here? What the hell just happened?"

"Don't bother. He's not going to touch me." Blaine's eyes still followed the man as they walked down the hall. The man turned back, meeting Blaine's eyes, twice. Both times the man, Chad, smirked and winked. "He's just trying to scare Kurt."

" _I knew we shouldn't have come to this_!" Kurt exclaimed, only letting go of his boyfriend when the man had disappeared from eyesight. He threw himself onto the bench next to Blaine, throwing his arms up despairingly. "What was I thinking? Oh my God."

"No. That man is not allowed to even be on this floor right now, Kurt. He did this on purpose."

"You didn't see the way he looked at Blaine before you got out, dad! I knew we shouldn't have come. I don't know why I wanted to. It was stupid. _I'm stupid_. Just take me home, alright?"

"No." Burt said firmly. "We are going to see them throw those men get sent to jail for a very long time. I'm not losing that satisfaction, Kurt, and neither are you."

"But they _won't_." Kurt whimpered, thoughts racing. It hurt to breathe. His calm demeanor had completely evaporated within a matter of seconds. That man had been an adult. He had known it wasn't a teenager because of the men's voices, but part of him had childishly hoped his attackers had been someone from school still. That way he wouldn't have to walk terrified everywhere he went. If someone who knew him did it, well, it was someone who _knew_ him. Now every time he walked down the street he would be nervous he was going to be attacked. He felt Blaine's hand on his own, covering it protectively, and heard him whispering something in his ear but Kurt didn't even hear it. The blood was rushing in his head too fast to concentrate on anything.

"Come on. We need to go sit down now." His dad said gruffly.

" _I don't want to_."

"You asked me to bring you here, Kurt. You told me to not let you leave, no matter what happened. I'm not letting you leave. You need this more than I do, kid. You need closure. I need you to have closure. And I'm not leaving until that man pays for what he did to you. You may not have seen yourself in that hospital bed before that surgery, fighting to breathe, but I did. I saw you before they even had that tube in your throat to help. And it's not something I'm ever going to forget. These men are going to pay and we are going to watch it happen." Burt said firmly again, hands on his shoulders and looking in his eyes. "Okay?"

"What if they don't get in trouble?" Kurt whispered hoarsely.

"Five attacks on gay kids in six months? This last one they were _caught_. Two boys identified them by face, one girl by _name_ , and you by voice, and the other kid _died_. They are going to jail, Kurt. They are." Burt pulled him into a quick hug. "Now let's get in there. Stay between Blaine and I, okay? Just hold Blaine's hand. Everything will be okay."

"But you didn't see that look he gave Blaine, Dad. He said—."

"Look, Kurt." Burt pointed at Blaine. "Blaine is right here. What's he going to do to Blaine? What could he do to Blaine in front of all of those people? I'm sure as hell not going to let him touch either of you, kid. Blaine is right. He's trying to scare you."

"After he gets out—."

"The man doesn't even know your name, Kurt. They don't know any names of the people they attacked for this very reason. All the precautions have been taken to keep you safe. Yesterday it was enough."

"Yesterday they also told me he wouldn't—."

"Kurt," Blaine whispered in his ear. "Please. The man was trying to scare you. He probably wants you to run in there and say you're dropping the charges so he doesn't have to pay your medical bills or so he spends less time in jail. It is nothing more than that."

Kurt opened his mouth to protest. All he could think of was the man getting out of jail, hunting them down, and hurting Blaine just to get back at him for suing for the money for his bills. Was Blaine right? Had he just been trying to intimidate him to get out of paying the bills? Well, it was working.

"Kiddo, we've got to get in there now or we won't be allowed in. You're going to have to calm down and walk in, okay?" Burt leaned down in front of him, at eye level. He spoke very slowly. "No one will hurt you, Kurt. No one will hurt Blaine either. It's going to be just like we discussed. They'll go in, plead guilty, and they'll leave. Simple as that. Alright?"

"Okay." He finally whispered.

His dad pulled him up and gave him another hug, pressing a quick kiss to the top of his head. "You're okay, son. I promise."

Blaine stood and made his way to the door, grabbing Kurt's other hand and leading him into the room. He was very aware of how tight Kurt was gripping his hand but when he turned back to look at his boyfriend, he also saw that Kurt had his head held high again. He squeezed Kurt's hand in what he hoped was a comforting way and took a seat in the very last row, feeling very proud of Kurt. Kurt sat as close to him as possible and maintained his tight grip on Blaine's hand, but he was still _there_ and that was more than Blaine would have done in his position. His hands shook and Blaine moved both of Kurt's hands onto his lap, covering them with his own. "It's okay." He whispered, leaning over. "You're okay. You're doing very well."

Kurt didn't respond, but his hands did relax considerably. Blaine watched his blue eyes scanning the room, at first lingering on the man, and then at the other various people that were seated. In one of the front rows were a man and woman. The woman was crying, hands covering her face, and the man was holding her.

"That's probably the boy's parents." He heard himself whisper quietly, to no one in particular. He saw no one else that looked like they had been attacked. He had a feeling everyone else was either there because they were families of the attackers or for another unrelated reason. Was he really the only one who had come to the trial? And had that made him stupid? Was he not supposed to be there?

His father looked at the parents too, his hand resting on Kurt's knee and squeezing it tightly. His other fist was clenched and his leg was jiggling up and down almost erratically. Kurt put his free hand over his father's and took in one last deep breath, finally tearing his eyes away from the man and woman.

Blaine leaned over, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Are you okay, my love?"

"Yes." Kurt leaned against him. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kurt." Blaine kissed his cheek again and squeezed his hand.

"Excuse me?"Kurt looked up. The man who had been holding the woman was standing directly in front of him, the woman sniffling and seated on the next bench up and facing him. "You're the other boy, aren't you? The 18 year old who… who was attacked?"

"Yeah." Kurt answered in a shaky voice.

The man took a seat in the row next to his wife, turned so they were still facing. "I just want to thank you. The police said that… that without your statement the case wouldn't have been as strong and they might have been let free. I know it must have been hard… you're a very brave young man."

Kurt felt a lump in his throat and he nodded.

The man gestured to his wife. "Our son, Adam… he's the one who died. My wife and I… we hoped you would show up. We had hoped Adam might wake up and… but… but we're glad you're okay. We're glad that someone…"

The woman leaned over and grabbed his free hand. "We're glad that you're safe and healthy. We hoped all the other kids were. Are you alright?"

"I… I will be. I mean, I am. Mostly." He whispered back, squeezing her hand.

"You're a beautiful boy. My name is Amber."

"Kurt." He whispered softly.

"You're a beautiful boy, Kurt." She touched his cheek with her free hand. "I hope that you're able to move on from this and be happy, because what these men did… it's not worth holding yourself back. Okay? Can you promise me that at least one person will come out from this okay?"

"I promise." Kurt vowed, meeting her eyes.

The man reached over and patted his shoulder before leading his wife back to where they had been sitting before in the front of the courtroom.

Something inside of Kurt seemed to have shifted. It was as if everything was a little brighter. He looked around the room again, eyes going to the man that had attacked him, who had given him his scars, but he didn't feel the overwhelming need to run out of the room. His hands didn't start to shake again, his chest didn't constrict painfully, and he didn't want to cry. The lump in his throat was gone.

"Blaine," he whispered, leaning over.

"Yes?" Blaine looked at him.

Kurt just gave him a weak sort of smile, squeezing his hand, as the elderly male judge entered the room. Everyone was told to stand, the man swore on the bible, and the sentencing commenced. As they took their seat, Burt's hand immediately went back to Kurt's knee, squeezing gently and not leaving.

"How do you plead?" the judge asked almost lazily as he took his seat. It was almost as if he was discussing a parking ticket case instead of a murder and assault case.

"My client pleads guilty, sir, to the lesser charge of manslaughter and also guilty to one Class E Felony ."

" _One_?" Burt whispered angrily, but only Kurt and Blaine were close enough to hear. "Try four."

"They must have thrown the other ones out." Blaine whispered back softly.

"Very well." The elderly man flipped through some papers. "It disgusts me that I even have to sit here and do cases like this, young man. If it were up to me, I would stick you in solitary confinement until the day you died. You deserve no more than that for taking an innocent life and putting other lives in jeopardy. As it may be, however, you are a first time offender and the law requires I take this into consideration. This is why I'm sentencing you to nine years in prison for the murder of a minor and 2 years for the _near death_ of a teenage boy. These sentences will not be served at the same time. You will be eligible for parole after serving three years for the murder and after 8 months for the assault. This means that you _must_ serve 44 months in prison before you are eligible for parole. And I will highly suggest any parole requests be denied."

As the police officer went up to his attacked and handcuffed him, he felt an invisible weight being lifted off of his shoulders. The man would be in prison for at least four years. For his entire undergraduate college career. It wasn't near long enough, in Kurt's opinion, and the fact that he was only going 15 months for _his_ attack did sting a bit, but that was it. That was what Kurt had wanted to see and wanted to hear. The other two men had been there and would get similar sentences probably, but Kurt had been primarily concerned with the first man that had done all of the bodily harm. With the first man, it was more personal.

"44 months? That man may be out in 44 months?" Burt growled under his breath.

"Let's go, Dad. I saw what I needed to see. I don't care about the other two. I just want to go."

"You don't want to stay?"

"No." Kurt whispered honestly. "I'm done here. It's over now."

Burt stood and quietly left the courtroom, holding the door open for both Kurt and Blaine.

"44 months? 44?" Blaine hissed as soon as the door was closed and they began walking towards the exit. His hand grasped Kurt's.

"It's ridiculous. That boy _died_. And Kurt could have died. Less than five damn years?" Burt growled right back. "Those men will be eligible for parole in less than five years. What is wrong with the world?"

"They may as well give them a freaking get out of jail free card. What a complete waste of everyone's time."

"This is your grandmother's fault, you know, and her damn staff. I'd like to walk up to your grandmother in a grocery store and— What, Kurt?"

"I'm driving home." Kurt said, hand extended. They had reached his Navigator in the midst of their heated discussion and Kurt waited a bit impatiently. "It's my car. I don't care who sits up front, but I'm choosing the radio station."

Burt and Blaine blankly stared at him as Burt passed over the keys, looking very confused.

"Are you not upset?" Blaine asked slowly.

" _He's in jail, Blaine_. He's in jail! He didn't just walk away! That's four years that I can walk to my car alone without feeling nervous!" Kurt exclaimed, getting into the car. "Oh God, I am _so_ … just… ah! Oh my God! They _caught_ them and they're _going to jail_ and this is just _so much progress_!"

"But—."

Burt shook his head at Blaine. "If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for us."

"But it's—."

"We'll talk about it later, kid. Just… just let him have this for right now, okay?"

"I mean, it's not _great_." Kurt continued as Burt climbed into the passenger seat and Blaine climbed into the back seat. "Yeah, I'd like them to have been in there longer. But I just feel like… like I can _breathe_ , you know? I hope he doesn't get parole, though… but four years. That's good, right, dad?"

"That's good, son." Burt said, trying to sound cheerful although he shared Blaine's thoughts—it wasn't good enough, not near good enough. This was about Kurt though and if Kurt felt better, then okay. He'd accept it.

"I mean, I'll probably not be as satisfied tomorrow or even later today but they're going to jail." He turned in his seat to face Blaine. "Blaine, they're going to jail."

"I know." Blaine forced a smile.

"You're not happy." Kurt's face fell and Burt shot Blaine a look.

"Of course I am, Kurt. I just… I wish he was going to be in prison longer is all. Four years is… I just wish it was longer." He reached up and squeezed his hand. "I'm happy."

"I just… didn't think they'd even get caught. And then I didn't think they'd even go to jail." He ran his hands through his hair and then tried to flatten it. "Maybe I should have expected more."

"We all three agreed that whether it was 3 days or 30 years, it didn't make a difference." Burt said firmly. "The most important thing is that Kurt is safe and healthy. If Kurt is happy and healthy, that is the _only_ thing that matters."

"And that they pay the medical bills." Kurt added as an afterthought.

"No. That you're safe, healthy, and happy. This was more to do with your happiness than financial problems, Kurt. This was for closure. Do you feel like you've got some closure?"

"To be honest, I think I had my closure the second that boy's mom grabbed my hand." Kurt leaned back against the seat, hands on the steering wheel but still not yet driving. "It just… I don't know."

"Resonated in you?" Blaine offered.

Kurt pursed his lips together and nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's the right word. Maybe. I just… It's over. It's time to move on to bigger and better things like Carole said yesterday. Carole's really smart, dad. It's over." He nodded again, staring straight ahead. "It's done. I don't ever want to go through with this again, but I just want it done."

"It's done." Burt assured him. "Anything else to do with it is for me and the insurance people to deal with."

"Good." Kurt let out a relieved sigh. "Good, I'm glad. Thank God."

"Well, let's not sit here all day. We've got stuff to do and places to go." Burt buckled his seat belt. "And please don't drive in a way that makes me regret teaching you how to drive. I don't think I can handle a having a heart attack on top of everything else."


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: This story is AU, meaning it is an alternate universe. It is not meant to be exactly like the television show that we all know and love. What Brings Us Closer Together is loosely based off of canon but is not intended to be/follow canon.

"We still have a lot to unpack and everything, but now that we actually have lights it's a lot easier." Kurt was saying into the phone, holding it up with his shoulder while he rummaged through some books. "It must have come on in the middle of the night… yeah, we didn't have water or electric before we went to bed… Blaine's doing fine. Yes, he remembers the talk you had about keeping an eye on me 24/7… No, I don't think I'll tell him that, it will just scare him… Tell Carole he's fine. He's reorganized his bookshelf like five times, he's a little too giddy over this, if you ask me."

"Have not." Blaine pouted from across the room, not even looking up the box of clothes he was cleaning out. They hadn't gotten too much unpacked the day before. Then again, things hadn't exactly gone as planned. They had _planned_ to move the dresser and table the day of the trial. Burt had gotten called into the garage. And then they had _planned_ to have Burt and Blaine take one trip to and from Cincinnati and Kurt take two (they had too much stuff to fit the first time up) in the early morning, but Finn had some football related crisis involving a form of some sort that had to be filled out by Carole and Burt "right that minute." Blaine didn't know it was possible to spend two hours filling out a form, but apparently it was when OSU football was involved. But that was okay because there was still time, it was only noon when they finally left Lima, and there was still plenty of time.

They had been hoping against hope that maybe—just maybe—the power and water would be on when they made it. They, of course, were not. After helping Kurt move all of the boxes out of his car so he could make the next trip back (the poor thing ended up driving roughly 9 hours straight with very few breaks), he and Burt had moved the table into the kitchen. As they were lowering Kurt's dresser to the ground, Blaine's cell phone rang and the delivery people informed them that they would be unable to deliver the bed and living room set the next morning. No, they could come that day—"within the hour!" she said cheerfully— or in a week's time. There was no way Kurt would sleep on the floor for week and Blaine didn't particularly enjoy the idea of it either, so he told the lady fine, that they could come then, and the two had to quickly get the large and heavy dresser into the apartment (this took some time) and move Burt's truck farther down the street so the delivery people could get into the driveway.

Within the hour, Blaine learned as all young adults do in their life, meant three to four hours if you were lucky and by the next morning if you were not so lucky when it came to movers, delivery men, repairmen, and the people who would set up anything required for survival (ie: water, electricity, and, of course, television and internet which Blaine was the most anxious for). While the time could have been spent unpacking, both Burt and Blaine sat and waited for three hours for the delivery people. Granted, maybe they were being just a _little bit_ lazy, but they used the excuse that they didn't want stuff to be in the way when the delivery people got there. Kurt saw through it, of course, and let Blaine know just how lazy he was after his father left. Blaine had expected no less from his boyfriend, though, and had been prepared for it.

By the time 8:30 came around Kurt was home and Burt had left, (after almost an hour of pacing, asking questions, reminding them to not leave the house in the middle of the night "because _nothing_ good happens after midnight", and demanding a call as soon as the power was on and their phones were charged up) there wasn't much else they could do besides crawl into bed. It was dark out, they had no lights, they felt disgusting and sweaty, but neither boy had slept more soundly in months than they did that night. Maybe even longer than months.

That is why the next morning they still had well over 3/4ths of the unpacking to finish. Nothing, absolutely nothing, had gone as planned the day before… but had they really expected it to? Moving was definitely not an easy thing. It was stressful and anxiety invoking. They still had to get through the television and internet being hooked up and Blaine was particularly adamant about wanting it hooked up _now_ because it was Sunday night and that meant Celebrity Apprentice was on. He also, even more importantly, wanted to get onto Facebook because Wes always made brilliant statuses that could sometimes have him laughing for days and, after all this stress from moving, he could use a laugh right about now. And okay, maybe Blaine really _had_ reorganized his bookshelf four times but his books had been in storage for so long. He enjoyed just staring at them, moving them around, and making a list in his head of which one's he would reread first.

"Yes, we locked the doors last night… Dad… no, Blaine hasn't turned into an abusive and controlling boyfriend over night… yes, I'm pretty sure his nice guy thing isn't an act…" Kurt said into the phone. He came by Blaine to grab another box, kissing the top of his head. "Yeah, Blaine works Tuesday morning but I'm going to pick Carole up so she can go with me to CCAD on Wednesday… I'm sure it's fine you can't come, Dad. It's just scheduling… Uh-huh…"

"Really?" Blaine scoffed, holding up a hideous blue t-shirt with his nose scrunched up.

"I was fifteen and horribly misled." Kurt said, yanking the shirt free of Blaine's grasp. "Alright, Dad, I'll talk to you tomorrow… tell Carole and Finn we said hi. Love you too."

"That phone call was thirty minutes shorter than last nights." Blaine said cheerfully. "I'd call that improvement."

"You realize my father thinks you're public enemy number one right now, right?" Kurt kicked the box Blaine was sorting through out of his way and sat on Blaine's lap.

"What are you doing?" Blaine asked, trying to look stern but failing miserably. By this point he had almost given up on being productive. There were just so many more things he would rather be doing. Like holding Kurt.

"Distracting you." His boyfriend mumbled, leaning down to kiss him on the lips.

"You're good at that." Blaine mumbled back into his lips, arms going around his waist and pulling him even closer.

After several seconds, Kurt pulled away and buried his face in the crook of Blaine's neck. "I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine whispered¸ ruffling his hair. _No. We have stuff to do. Otherwise Kurt will have to finish it all alone when you're at work Tuesday._ He had to be mature, he had to make sure stuff got done. It was the right thing to do. "But I think you're forgetting that we still have a lot of unpacking to get done and that I have to go to work on Tuesday."

"Why do you have to go to work on Tuesday anyway? You said that classes don't start until Wednesday." Kurt stuck his lower lip out adorably, making Blaine want to cuddle him then and there. "That doesn't give us very much time to spend together in our new house."

"We've been through this five times, my love. The day right before classes start is always busy and you basically have to work it unless you're in a hospital dying."

"You live in Ohio." The younger boy pointed out, still pouting. "He'd have let you not work. You're just too nice."

"I think we should just be relieved that both of my bosses were understanding and rehired me. I don't think I'm in a position to be very picky… and I don't mind it. It's going to be open to close; I'll make a lot of money. And with that lot of money, I can buy you things. Doesn't that sound nice? Or maybe we can go to the Cheesecake Factory." Offering him with the Cheesecake Factory may have been a little extreme, but he did feel bad that Kurt was going to be alone so much until the younger boy started school. Sure, Kurt would look for a job. But with the economy, it was untelling how long it would take the boy to actually find one. That meant he'd be alone for four days a week for several hours.

At the mention of cheesecake, Kurt's blue eyes lit up and he made an "O" with his mouth. Then he paused and said hesitantly, "I don't know. That's fattening. I don't want to gain my weight back."

Blaine rolled his eyes, arms tightening around his younger boyfriend. "You and your rabbit food. I don't know how you eat so healthy, Kurt. Fast food is delicious. And salad is not. You can eat unhealthy food every once in a while."

Kurt kind of shrugged, looking away.

"What?"

"I just don't like it very much. I don't know." He shrugged again, still not looking at Blaine.

"Hey now, what? Tell me." Blaine said quietly, because he knew Kurt well enough to know that the shrug he had just done was not an 'I just don't like it' type of shrug.

"Well… I just had fast food a lot after my mom died." He said quietly, looking down at his hands. "We never had it before… because mom knew how to cook and bake. But after she died… well, Dad isn't a good cook, not really… and I guess I just equate it with that."

"You equate fast food with your mom dying? Isn't that a little weird?" Blaine asked without thinking, and then his eyes widened in horror. Had he really said that out loud? Yes, he had. It was almost as bad as the time he asked if Pavarotti's burial reminded him of his mom. Where was that filter that normal human beings had that stopped them from asking stuff like this at inopportune times? Then again, he reasoned, he'd never known anyone that had died. So maybe you couldn't completely blame him for now knowing how to act around the subject of death.

"No." Kurt sighed and spoke in a soft voice. "A lot changed when she died. Well, obviously. For instance, I had to switch bus stops and get off near the garage. Jeff would pick me up from my bus stop and take me to the garage. I'd sit in Dad's office and do homework and stuff… then we'd leave and always go through the drive thru at McDonalds or KFC or Gold Star Chili on the way home… I had it all the time and I'd never had it before and I just… didn't like it. I think that's why I don't like it now."

"You stayed at the garage after school?" he asked curiously. He of course knew that Kurt knew a lot about cars. After all, he had gone down to the garage many Saturday and Sundays to help Burt get caught up on stuff. He also knew that Kurt always sorted through all of the chaos in Burt's main office because, as Kurt declared, his father was 'hopeless when it came to office management.' It was still hard to imagine an eight year old Kurt Hummel spending his free time at a car garage, though. Blaine had just imagined him always watching Disney movies or playing with the dolls he had admitted to having (and still had).

"Yeah." Kurt nodded. "Dad tried to get me to go to an after school club or something and I tried but… I've just always been different. So I hated it and that's what we decided to do. I went to the garage every day until middle school started and then I came home after school alone and taught myself how to cook and kept up with the house… Things were just so… I mean… I _had_ to do it, though. Dad says I grew up too fast... He tried to talk me into trying stuff again at middle school, you know? I didn't have many friends, though, so I told him I didn't want to… I just stayed home and cooked dinner, cleaned the house, and did my schoolwork."

"I'm sorry, Kurt." Blaine said, not knowing what to say. Truth be told, he'd had a very normal childhood until he came out to his parents. It seemed like after that, it all went to hell. When he was eight, nine, and ten, he'd played power rangers with the boys on his street and rode his bike around. And at least in the first two years of middle school, he'd played soccer and talked about the various boy things that middle schoolers talk about. And when he was eleven and twelve, he was certainly not cooking dinner for the family or straightening up the house. His room, of course, remained spotless but that was nothing to the extent of keeping up with an entire house. It sounded like Kurt had almost taken the place of his mother, and that was extremely sad. It was sad that Kurt had been a mother to himself. That broke Blaine's heart.

"It's okay." Kurt shrugged. "I'm used to taking care of stuff on my own." He took a deep breath. "I think when the whole stuff with Karofsky happened, that was the first time I'd ever really had something I couldn't handle on my own."

Blaine just tugged him even closer, nuzzling his shoulder. "You were handling it… Trying to at least."

Kurt pressed their foreheads together. "What about you?" he whispered. "Did you do anything after school or anything?"

"I just did soccer." Blaine said. His forehead was still pressed against Kurt's and he resisted the urge to sigh. "I had friends on them team until I was about thirteen."

"Why just until you were thirteen?" Kurt asked, maintaining their eye contact.

Blaine closed his eyes and felt Kurt's hand on his cheek. "That's when I started acting… different, I guess. I mean, I came out to my mom and dad when I was twelve and they took it horribly so it scared me away from telling anyone else… and I didn't for almost another year. But by that point it wasn't subtle different, I guess. My taste in clothes and music started to change, the movies I wanted to see, I liked to sing and dance…"

He opened his eyes and Kurt nodded, still pressed close to him.

"The kids just got a lot meaner. I was good at soccer. I was the best and I'm not even saying that to sound conceited, I really was. If I had been straight and _normal_ , I would have been the kid that everyone wanted to talk to and be around… But I was different, and they treated me poorly. And then my friend at the time… he was my best friend… I tried to come out to him, and he's the one that… that turned it from taunting to bullying."

"You came out to your best friend and he got people to bully you?" Kurt gasped, pulling back to look at Blaine. His eyes were wide and he almost looked like he wanted to cry.

Truthfully, Blaine felt like crying himself. He hadn't even gone so in depth with Wes and David and they were his best friends. He wasn't sure what made him more apt to open up to Kurt now, but he figured maybe it was the next step they'd taken. They now lived together, that was a whole new level of commitment, and it seemed to have brought a whole new level of trust. He nodded slowly.

"And this was in middle school? People were physically bullying you even before high school?" Kurt asked, touching his face again. "Blaine…"

"Yeah. Eighth grade." Blaine responded, tilting his face into Kurt's hand.

"When did you transfer to Dalton?" the younger boy whispered.

Blaine sighed a bit and scooted Kurt off of his lap, and then almost wrapped his arms around himself uncomfortably. "Well, the bullying _started_ right after I turned thirteen, in middle school. And it just kept getting progressively worse. I had to go to the office every day and talk to the principal and they just… didn't even care. They didn't do anything. In high school, though, it got twice as bad. The kids were bigger and meaner… and stronger. The Sadie Hawkins dance I told you about where they beat us up… that was in October of my freshman year. October ninth. That was when it finally… that's when it got…"

He just trailed off, not knowing what to say. He didn't even know if he could speak, though, because the lump in his throat was getting rather large. It grew with almost every word he spoke.

"Oh, Blaine…" Kurt whispered again, stroking his cheek.

Blaine looked up at the ceiling. "I ended up in the hospital after that. They made me stay for two or three days and everything because I had a concussion, my wrist my sprained, and I was just… I had bruises everywhere and I was so sore."

He felt Kurt's fingers running through his hand and it made him feel a little better, but not too much better. He wanted to stop talking but at the same time he just wanted to get it all out because he had never really talked about it. At least, not like this. Not with so much detail. It was usually 'Yeah, I got taunted.' While his friends knew it had been bad, he'd never discussed it so in depth with them. They wouldn't have understood anyway.

"The dance was on a Friday. I left the hospital Monday… and Dad made me go back to school on Wednesday."

Kurt's hand immediately dropped and his eyes grew dark. "What?"

Blaine's chest felt tight as he spoke, but it was like he couldn't stop. "He said that if I wasn't g-gay that it wouldn't have ha-happened. That if I didn't _act_ gay, it wouldn't have happened. He said I had no right to be upset because I… He said that I deserved it. And he sent me back there and I still had bruises a-all over me and the stupid bullies would just knock me into walls and I had bruises on top of bruises on top of bruises. Not to mention by this point I had already been to the camp twice. It… It broke me. That's when I first started getting d-depressed and, and…"

Kurt's arms wrapped around him, pulling him close.

"And that's when my g-grandmother said sh-she'd pay for Dalton. I-I'd already been in the counseling a-and it wasn't working. B-But it was never about me b-being upset, Kurt. They were… They just… She didn't want it to get out that her gay son was getting bullied! And I was depressed and it was freaking election time! It was election time and s-she only offered to send me because she didn't want it getting out! _It makes me so angry_!"

"Shh, shh." Kurt rocked him a bit. "It's okay. You don't have to talk about it."

He couldn't stop though. Not when he was already so far in. "She asked if I wanted to go a-and I said yes. And I'm still so mad at myself, Kurt. I'm mad that she manipulated me into going and I'm mad that I went. I let them run me out of school, Kurt. And I let my family run me out of my home. But I said yes and I started after Christmas. T-That's when I transferred to Dalton. After Christmas of my freshman year."

He buried his face in Kurt's chest, shoulders beginning to shake.

"Shh, baby… shh…" Kurt whispered, kissing the top of his head. "It's okay, Blaine… I-I'm glad you went to Dalton… If you hadn't, you might not have met me… and you were safe there, honey."

"I a-always run away from stuff, Kurt. I always run." He cried. "Why do I always run?"

Kurt didn't answer, but Blaine didn't expect him to. Because Kurt had done the exact opposite. Kurt had stood up to his bullies more than once. Hell, he had stood up to the man that almost _murdered_ him. Kurt couldn't understand how much self hatred Blaine sometimes felt for the sheer fact that he never stood up against his bullies and would never _get_ to. No. Instead he had let his parents ship him off to a boarding school several hours away for 9 months out of the year. Instead he had let his bullies, and his old _best friend_ , run him out of his school. Kurt could never understand what it meant to be weak like that, because Kurt wasn't weak.

Kurt was strong, and Blaine was not. He was sitting here, in the middle of his new bedroom, sobbing into his younger boyfriend's chest. It was almost embarrassing. How had they even ended up on such serious subjects? How did Blaine let himself talk so much about what had happened? He just _didn't do that_ and this was the exact reason why. He just couldn't handle it emotionally.

"I just… I don't want to think about it. I-I'm so over this." Blaine sniffled as he sat up, wiping his puffy eyes. He looked down, determined to not look Kurt in the eyes.

"Hey, babe… look at me." Kurt whispered.

"No."

Kurt put his hand under Blaine's chin and tilted his head up until Blaine was looking into beautiful blue eyes. "You can't do this to yourself. It isn't healthy, Blaine... you can't keep stuff like this bottled up inside… and you can't let this eat you up from the inside either, honey. What's in the past is done. You can't change it. You did nothing wrong, Blaine. You were being bullied… and you removed yourself from the situation. And, like I said, if you hadn't, you might not have ever met me. What kind of boring life would _that_ be?" The younger boy attempted a small impish smile, but it was still etched with sadness.

Blaine let out a quiet laugh, leaning against his younger boyfriend. He felt himself slowly becoming more cheerful though, and he found that he almost felt better having gotten that out. He hadn't even known he _needed_ to talk about it, but there it was, out in the open, and now he felt better. "I'd have met you eventually… because we're meant to be together."

Kurt smiled a bit and kissed the top of his head again, looking relieved at the sound of his laugh.

"I know you don't… believe in fate and stuff." He bit his lip, feeling a bit silly. "And I don't know if I do either but… if I do have a soul mate, well, it's you. It would just have to be."

Kurt's smile grew. "I don't know how I feel about the whole soul mate thing."

"I don't even know if I do, but… sometimes… sometimes I wonder. Think about it. I know we would have met because of… of everything. We would have eventually met. I go to UK and your grandparents met at UK. Your dad plays for the Buckeyes and I'm totally obsessed —in a non-creepy way. We both love to sing and dance. If nothing, we would have seen each other at Sectionals last year. We would have stumbled into each other in the hallway o-or both grabbed the same door handle or _something_. And if not that, I'm sure Wes would have found some way to introduce me to the gay boy from the rival school, if only so I could get dirt on you all. Not that I'd have ever consented, but he'd have tried. And if we happened to not meet at Sectionals… well, I would have noticed you at least. And I would have kept thinking about you and thinking about you. Maybe I would have gotten up the courage to talk to you at Regionals… and, honestly, I cannot believe that we didn't run into each other at some show or musical. We've both seen tons of the same shows live… isn't it exciting to think that we probably sat in a room together at _least_ five times before we even met? What if we had even sat right next to each other?"

Now he _really_ felt silly, but it really was something he had thought about in the past. Maybe he had too much free time on his hands, but he knew for a fact that he would never be able to be with anyone apart from Kurt Hummel.

"I love you, Blaine." Kurt whispered, bending down to kiss him on the lips.

"I love you too, Kurt." Blaine whispered back, smiling a bit sadly.

"I think we should take a break. I kind of want to snuggle and take a nap. We've got all night and all day tomorrow to get this unpacking done."

"Alright, that sounds nice to me." The older boy stood and wiped his still-puffy eyes again. He spoke in a soft whisper. "Kurt… I'm sorry your mom died and you had to go through all of that."

"I'm sorry too… and I'm sorry you had such an awful time, honey…" Kurt stood and made his way to their new bed, laying on it and opening his arms.

"After we nap, we'll have a good rest of the day." Blaine said confidently, easing onto the bed and into Kurt's arms. "And maybe we can get the unpacking done tonight so tomorrow can just be nice and relaxing."

"Mmh, I can live with that." Kurt said, pulling him even closer and kissing him gently. They lay together silently, half asleep, for several minutes until Kurt spoke. "Hey, Blaine?"

"Yeah?" Blaine asked, sounding a bit sleepy.

"Don't feel bad about yourself." Kurt whispered in his ear. "I wouldn't change one thing about you, okay? So you shouldn't want to either."

Blaine pulled back to smile at him. "Thank you, Kurt."

"You're welcome." Kurt gave him a sleepy smile and fell asleep, arms still loosely draped around him. Blaine re-situated himself, laid his head on Kurt's chest, and fell asleep too.

* * *

"So," Blaine said cheerfully several hours later. The boys had unpacked the kitchen entirely and were now unpacking the living room things. Luckily they did not have a whole lot of stuff for the living room, so it wasn't likely to take too long. "I keep thinking about what we were talking about earlier. How I said we were meant to be… and I really do think we are."

"Oh?" Kurt asked, looking up. He was currently perfectly setting up Nolan, his turtle Blaine had given him when he was in the hospital, next to his favorite lamp.

"Yes. I can't imagine myself with anyone else." The older boy said confidently.

"Apart from Jeremiah." The younger boy snorted, returning his attention to his small turtle.

That statement took Blaine by surprise as he initially felt the need to blush furiously, until he remembered something that made him realize that no matter how many times Kurt brought up the Gap Attack, that there would always be one story to one-up it. The particular story involved sixteen year old 'impressionable' Kurt Hummel and his crush on the seventeen year old football 'star' Finn Hudson. Who just so happened to now be his brother. Nothing would top that.

"Finn." Blaine coughed loudly. "Finn, Finn."

Kurt looked back up, almost looking wounded. "Hey! You swore to never bring that up again, Blaine!"

"I'm already living in sin, what harm could a few more sins possibly do?" he smirked, making his way across the living room. He came to a stop at Kurt, and then leaned forward slightly to kiss him eagerly.

"I like living in sin." Kurt responded, leaning back until he was on the lying floor and pulling Blaine down next to him.

Blaine definitely had no complaints. He tangled their legs together, pulling him close and kissing down Kurt's neck. "Oh yeah? Sweet and compassionate Kurt likes living in sin?"

"I don't know how sweet and compassionate I am lately." He gasped out, arching towards Blaine's body. "Blaine, what are you doing?"

"Unbuttoning this shirt. Why do all of your shirts have buttons?" Blaine mumbled into his lips, still smirking, and his hands moved down Kurt's chest. "And you say _I'm_ sensitive to touch."

"You're the one who s-said we have to unpack and— _ooh_." He trailed off, falling silent and shuddering slightly. " _That feels so good_."

"Kurt, you seem to have a problem."

"Don't worry, Wes. Blaine will too soon with all that hip grinding."

Both boys' heads snapped up and Kurt shrieked, pulling his shirt together and knocking Blaine off of him. Within seconds he was blushing and hiding his face.

_Shit_ , Blaine thought. He knew there was something he was forgetting amidst their busy and emotion-filled day, something he was supposed to be doing… Of course. Wes and David were coming to help them unpack that night. Only because Wes really just wanted to see their new flat screen TV, (they were going to use Kurt's old one from his bedroom, but Blaine had pouted a lot until he got his way—the pout worked on Kurt _every time_ ) but that was beside the point. They had planned to unpack into the night, watch TV, laugh about old Warbler stories, and possibly eat Japanese food—because, face it, there is no food better for four young men to eat than that of the Japanese kind. At least this is what David preached.

"Didn't forget we were coming, did you, boys?" Wes grinned.

"I dare say they did, Wesley." David also grinned as Blaine just stared, too stunned to even speak.

_Shit, shit, shit._

_This is so not fair._

_So. Not. Fair._

"I just want you to know that this time, Blaine, it is entirely your fault." Kurt said, frowning as he began to button up his red shirt. Blaine tried to focus on his words and not all of the skin being covered that he was no longer kissing but it was very hard, especially with Kurt so close. "Not Carole's, not Finn's, not Kreacher's. Your fault!"

" _Damn, Kurt_!" Wes exclaimed, sprawling himself out on the floor. "For such a skinny and little thing, you sure have some nice abs! Doesn't he, David?"

"I'm just as shocked by it as you are." David agreed, joining him.

Finally, Blaine found the willpower to both not pout and speak at the same time. "Damn it, guys! I was totally about to—."

"Get it?" Wes offered.

"Have manly man-sex?" David asked.

"Oh, he wasn't getting anything more than a blow job." Kurt scoffed as he straightened his shirt. "But it was more than he's going to get _now_."

" _Sorry, boys_." Wes sang and then he turned to Blaine. "Since we came in the back door, I tried to get your coffee maker to work but I couldn't figure it out."

"Exactly how long have you all been here?" Kurt asked, cheeks going red.

"Just short of fifteen minutes." David said after looking at his watch.

"Long enough to hear," Wes put on a dreamy sounding voice, "' _We're meant to be.'"_

David shook his head eagerly and snickered. "My favorite part was innocent little Kurt's ' _I like living in sin_.'

"You two are right out of a cheap gay porno." Wes added, resuming his normal voice and grinning again at his friends.

"Watch a lot of those, Wes?" Blaine quipped darkly, crossing his arms over his chest. He really needed to look into finding new friends. If they'd been creeping in the kitchen that long and knew it was about to get good between the two boyfriends, couldn't they have at least let Blaine get his blow job and then burst in? I mean, how often did Blaine and Wes complain about the extreme lack of sex in their sex lives? Often. And yeah, maybe David was still with his girlfriend who was more of a, for lack of better word, fuck-buddy… but at least Wes should have sympathized with Blaine and held off for another ten minutes.

"Actually, I did watch one the other day. I was just wondering how it worked, you know, and I kept trying to picture you and Kurt—."

" _What_?" Kurt yelped, blue eyes widening in horror. He blushed again instantly.

"Well I figured it must be interesting if Blaine thinks about it so much." Wes shrugged, as if it was completely normal for a straight male to think about his two gay friends having sex and then to watch gay porn to see what it would have been like. "You say that like it's weird."

"That is a little strange, friend." David said, patting Wes' head.

"Oh my god. This is my life." Blaine moaned, shaking his head. "This is totally my life. The first time I'm about to have sex, real sex, in weeks, and you two come and ruin it."

"What kind of sex were you getting?" Kurt scoffed.

"Yes, I'd like to know that as well." Wes said cheerfully. _"Ah!_ I see!" He nodded knowingly when David gestured with his hand. "I didn't know gay boys did that too. I assumed it wouldn't be enough to get them off. I figured they had to—"

" _It's time to try defying gravity!"_ Kurt sang, covering his ears. " _Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity. I think I'll try defying gravity! And you won't bring me down!"_

"Told you." Blaine said, giving his friends a knowing look. "He can't even watch a porno without having an anxiety attack. If you mention sex, he sings."

"I would have a lot of fun with that if I were you." David chirped. "All you have to do is mention sex?"

Blaine just shrugged. "Well, it seems to get more of a reaction if it's straight sex."

Kurt narrowed his eyes at Blaine. "I can't believe you forgot they were coming tonight. This is so embarrassing."

"Oh, Kurt, lighten up. We're all friends here." Wes cut in before Blaine could even respond. "What's a friendship if you don't get to walk in on each other about to do the dirty once or twice? Just ask Blaine how many times he's walked in on me doing the dirty."

"Four. At Dalton." Blaine shuddered, remembering each instance in which he innocently walked into the dorm he shared with Wes and walked right back out, hazel eyes wide and scarred for life. He'd never been so happy to room with David in his life when the next fall came. "And, for the record, Kurt, you would have probably died on the spot."

"How did you manage to sneak a girl into Dalton?" Kurt said, looking between the three boys.

" _Girls_ , my friend. Plural. As in there were many. And I have my ways. I always have my ways." Wes said cryptically.

"What he means is that he used the back entrance to sneak them in between RA switch offs." David supplied. "And by many, he means two."

Blaine snorted loudly, but the smile quickly left his face when Kurt gave him a look.

"Better put him in his place, Kurt." Wes grinned. "He's got you whipped, Blaine."

"I am not whipped." Blaine scoffed.

"Someone has to put him in his place, having you two as best friends. It's a miracle he's as sane and well-behaved as he is." Kurt said to Wes, and then looked back to his boyfriend. "Again, I say, you have no one to blame but yourself for the lack of sex you get today. You three can continue your awkward talk about sex with multiples or multiple times if you'd like but we really do have work to do. It's Sunday night, meaning we've got a little over 24 hours to get as much unpacking done as possible and Mr. Anderson here wants it all done tonight. So, _I_ will be doing something productive while you three act like little high school boys."

With that, Kurt strolled out of the living room.

Clearly the speech was meant to rouse the boys out of the room to actually assist with the unpacking, but it did not have that type of effect at all—and Kurt would later learn that his speeches on the three would _never_ have the desired effect, but that was something else entirely. Instead, Wes simply began humming, David looked around the room, and Blaine threw himself onto the couch miserably.

"The boy who graduated high school five days ago just told us we were acting like immature high school boys." David suddenly said, getting a rather amused look on his face. "Kurt is kind of adorable, you know?"

Blaine held up a finger, waiting for a door to close, and then immediately groaned as soon as he knew Kurt was out of earshot. " _Guys, that is totally not cool_! It's been _week_ s and you all barged in and ruined it!"

David hopped up, grinning and ruffling Blaine's hair. "Well you're the one who asked us to help you come and unpack, Anderson!"

Blaine scowled, turning his attention to David, and pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You! You are _evil!_ You interrupted us instead of waiting because I grabbed your ass in February, didn't you?"

"I will confirm nor deny anything." David said as Wes nodded his head up and down energetically.


	21. Chapter 21

"'M sleepy. Don't make me g-get up."

"It's three, Kurt."

"I worked 35 hours this week. My feet hurt. And my back. And my everything. I'm j-just sleepy." The taller of the two boys yawned as he curled into a ball, pulling the covers up over his body.

"We haven't had more than three hours alone together since you started working at that godforsaken Express. Don't sleep it all away." Blaine leaned over his boyfriend, kissing down his jaw slowly in an attempt to wake him. He felt bad waking Kurt up, he really did, but they rarely spent time together anymore and it was becoming harder with each day. He had tried waiting for the boy to wake u, but it just wasn't happening and he couldn't stand being alone in a house with Kurt without interaction any longer. "Wake _upppp_."

" _Blaine_ ," Kurt whined, arching towards him. "I'm tired."

Blaine sat up straight and watched the younger boy carefully. Kurt rolled onto his side, tugging his shirt that had ridden up during his fifteen hour sleep down past his stomach, and very slowly opened his blue eyes.

"Good afternoon, my love." Blaine said, running his fingers through his messy bed hair and smiling warmly at his boyfriend. He couldn't help but think about how adorable Kurt looked when he had just woken up, eyes sleepy and hair going in several different directions. Then again, Kurt Hummel was just adorable.

"Afternoon?" Kurt yawned again, stretching out his arms and legs.

"It's three." Blaine repeated.

"No!" Kurt gasped, eyes widening in shock. "We were going to go out to breakfast! _Shiiit_! I am so sorry, Blaine. Oh my God. Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"

"It's fine, Kurt. Really." Blaine laughed. "You've worked so much these past three weeks since you've started that it's ridiculous. I'm glad you're doing so well there and everything, but I wish they didn't work you so much. It is your summer _break_ after all and you're spending it all at work or at home exhausted."

Kurt fell back against the pillows and rubbed his face, cringing as if the words hurt. "I know, I know. I'm so sorry I slept through breakfast… and lunch."

Blaine leaned forward and kissed the top of his head. "Don't apologize… I just wish you'd listen to Carole and change your availability. With all of the classes you'll be taking at school in the fall…I mean… Kurt, I don't know how you think you can go to school all day Monday through Thursday and then work Friday through Sunday… your school is much more hands on. You can't skim readings and not stay caught up. I just…I think we need to discuss what happens after summer." Sure, the stuff about school was all true. At the present time, though, Blaine _really_ just wanted to spend more time with his boyfriend… but saying that would have made his argument less valid and he wasn't going to just _give_ Kurt something to hold against him in the argument.

"You only have two weeks left of your summer classes, Blaine. We can spend more time together then when I have days off."

"One." Blaine corrected. "See? You're working so much you can't even keep your days and weeks straight. And the baby will be here soon, and then your birthday, and college. Tons of big things are coming up. This isn't about us spending time together, though, Kurt." Okay, maybe he lied a bit there. "It's about your sanity and your health. I don't want you overexert—."

Kurt held up a hand, looking impatient. Any time Blaine brought up overexerting himself, Kurt would get this way. He was fairly independent—okay, very independent in most ways—and didn't like Blaine fussing over him. Especially when it came to his health or anything at all relating back to his attack. "Don't you go all Dad on me, Blaine. I know what I can and can't handle. I'm fine."

"Kurt, if this is about the money… Alex is giving us $150 a week from his checks by direct deposit. I got that quarterly interest thing and it's in my savings. Burt gave us extra money. Burt gave us both credit cards to his account in case we need something. Kurt, we are fine money wise. You don't have to work yourself ragged."

"I have nothing to do when you're at school anyway." Kurt shrugged. "And they let me off on Friday nights to go home. You work _two jobs_ and go to school. It wouldn't be fair for me to not work."

"I think you should work… but I also think we're in a position where neither of us have to kill ourselves over it. Talk to your boss and tell them you want twenty five hours for the rest of the summer… and then maybe we should talk to Burt about what you want to do for school. You'll need time to get your work done…"

Kurt let himself fall over onto Blaine, nuzzling his side. Because his boyfriend definitely brought up a valid point. It was going to be extremely difficult to balance school and work. When he and Carole had gone to the orientation and to schedule his classes shortly after moving into their new apartment, his very friendly advisor had suggested to all of the students that if they _had_ to work, that they needed to keep it under seven hours a week for the first semester or two. This had been something he'd been trying to ignore, but now that Blaine was bringing up how hard it would be to do both… on top of Carole, who had been saying it all along… well, it was hard to ignore that many people.

"This is so stressful. Maybe I wasn't as mentally prepared for moving out as I thought." Kurt sighed.

"Hey, what does that mean?" Blaine asked softly, moving so he was sitting next to Kurt.

"I just… I wish I could go back to November, December, and January… no school, no work, and I got to spend as much time alone with you as I wanted." The younger boy mumbled, looking down.

"Yes, Kurt, because you were seriously injured." Blaine said sharply, scowling at his boyfriend. He almost couldn't even believe what he was hearing. "I don't wish we could go back there at all. Maybe you've tricked yourself into thinking back on things then and thinking they were relaxing or whatever, but personally I would never want to be in that position again. You couldn't sleep because of nightmares. You were an emotional wreck for months. Everyone—."

"No, that's not what I meant." Kurt sighed. "I just… I thought living alone meant we'd spend _more_ time together, not less. You're always in Lexington and I just… miss you a lot, Blaine. Work keeps me preoccupied."

"But my finals are Thursday." Blaine pointed out. "Then I'll be all alone in the apartment when you're working 35 hours a week. I'm not working when school isn't in session. Kennedy's is letting me off… until the three days before fall classes start when it's busiest. So I'm going to be home very soon."

"I don't know if they'll still pay me $10.50 an hour if I step down in hours so soon… And my checks have been $320 a week. It's really nice to have that kind of money in case anything happens."

"You're trying to make the argument go in circles. We've got my money, Alex is giving us money, you've now got about $1,000 from Express saved up between these last three weeks that you've worked your ass off. Step down in hours. You're trying to take on too much, babe, and it's going to come crashing down on you."

"I wasn't aware this was an argument. I thought it was a discussion." Kurt sighed again and got out of bed, going over to his closet. He stretched, turning back to look at the older boy. "I don't know what to do here, Blaine. I'm only eighteen. I know it's going to be hard when it comes to school but isn't this what college students do? Work themselves crazy to get by while in school?"

"Most college kids aren't in programs like yours, Kurt. Most nimrods can get through a University and make a C in the class without even showing up. You can't compare yourself to kids in a completely different environment than yours, honey. And one of my jobs is in a library. They give me like three boxes of books to put away. It takes ten minutes. After that, I sit alone behind a desk for three hours reading Vogue or doing homework. So really they're paying me to do homework."

"But the bookstore—."

"Yeah, I actually work. But not nearly as much as you do. All I'm saying is… you can't try to do too much. Your school costs way too much money to… to let some clothing store in a mall get in the way… and I miss you."

" _Fine_." Kurt sighed, tugging on a shirt. "I'll go down there right now and ask to step down in hours. Then we can go get dinner somewhere or something."

Blaine looked relieved and nodded. "On Friday we'll head down a little early to Lima and talk to your dad about what we should do once school starts. You can go into Express and change your availability and I'll look in Waldenbooks when you do that. I really want that new book everyone's talking about. Maybe I can read it after my finals."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You spend more money on books than anyone I've ever met, Blaine. Haven't you heard of a library?"

Blaine made a face and shook his head. "I like to _own_ books. I like to be able to re-read them whenever I want."

"Okay, okay, okay. You can spend two hours in the bookstore. But only because I slept in so late. Otherwise, I'd say no."

Blaine made his way over and kissed his cheek. "Hurry and get dressed! It's after three and the mall closes at six."

"Heaven forbid we spend less than three hours in a bookstore." Kurt muttered as he headed to the bathroom, but he turned back and gave Blaine a sweet smile so he would know Kurt was kidding.

The older boy sat at the desk in their bedroom while he waited for his boyfriend, rather impressed with himself. He had thought he was going to have to 'discuss' a whole lot more before he talked Kurt into working less, but he was extremely glad that Kurt had agreed so readily. After all, anyone could tell Kurt was way too overworked. He was sure Express knew nothing about his attack and how he had to take it slow, so he didn't think that the actual job was the problem. The problem was Kurt trying to push himself too hard and too far. There just wasn't any need for it when they already had money coming in.

Kurt came back into the room twenty minutes later, already dressed. Blaine hopped up excitedly and went over to mess up Kurt's hair as he began to style it.

"Stop it, Blaine!"

" _Nope_!" Blaine sang, continuing his attack. Of course he wasn't going to just stop it. Who did Kurt think he _was_? Messing up Kurt's hair was one of his favorite things to do. Plus, a small part of him enjoyed getting Kurt all riled up.

" _Blaine_!"

"Yes, dear?"

"If you want to leave, let me fix my hair! I didn't do this when you were fixing _your_ hair."

"Only because you were asleep." Blaine pointed out, letting his hands drop. "When I fix my hair you sit in the living room and glower."

"No, I don't." Kurt scoffed.

"You totally do, Kurt. It's okay, I know you love the curls."

"I do not."

"It's been over a year, my love. You can admit that you like my curly head of hair."

Kurt very suddenly reached up, messing up Blaine's perfectly gelled hair. This was something Blaine did often, but Kurt had _never_ messed up Blaine's styled hair. Blaine's hazel eyes widened in shock and then he gasped. " _Kurt!"_

"Ha! It's not so fun now, is it?" Kurt exclaimed, running his soft fingers through Blaine's hair and messing it up even more. "Actually, this is really fun! No wonder you always mess my hair up."

"Stop, Kurt!" Blaine stuck his lower lip out. "My hair is curly. It takes so much longer to fix than yours."

"Aw, okay." His younger boyfriend gave him a sympathetic look and stepped back.

"Thank you, Ku—AH! _Kurt_!"

Kurt tossed a plastic cup that _had_ been on the nightstand and full of water to the ground and took off running from the room. The cup _had_ been full, but now most of it's contents were on Blaine. More specifically, on his head. Blaine ran after him, and almost caught him, but Kurt slammed the closet door shut and locked it at the last possible second.

"Kurt, you _suck_!" Blaine called, banging on the door. "Open up!"

"You talk with that mouth to my stepmother? You ought to be ashamed!" Blaine could just see the smirk on his boyfriend's face.

"Kurt, come _on_!" he said impatiently, tapping his foot.

"No. You'll chase me. You'll chase me and then murder me." The younger boy called through the door. "Ow, Blaine, you've got sharp soccer shoes."

"They're called cleats." Blaine said impatiently. "Come out of the closet!"

"No! I'm fine just where I'm at. Can you call my dad and tell him you've chased me into a closet and that if I don't show up Friday you've turned homicidal?"

"No, but I'll call your dad and tell him what you did with your tongue last week in that fitting roo—."

"You wouldn't!" Kurt gasped, flinging the door open. Then his eyes widened and he slammed it shut again. Or tried to. Blaine was too fast for him and really both boys were now playing tug of war with it. "Give it, it's my closet!"

" _Actually_ it's _my_ closet and you're messing it up! Lemme in!"

"No! I'll kick you!"

"I'll kick back! The last person I kicked had a bruise for three months. I'm, like, a trained professional!"

"You look like a trained drowned rat right now." Kurt giggled, finally pulling the door shut and promptly locking it.

Blaine paused for several seconds, pushed the number one button seven times on his phone so Kurt could hear the dialing, and then said in a sweet voice, "Hi, Burt. No, no, everything is fine actually. I just wanted to tell you about what happened last week. No, it's a funny story. Oh, a customer just came in? I'll wait!"

The door flung open and Kurt knocked Blaine to the floor, wrestling him for the phone.

"Argh!" Blaine grunted, trying to hold the phone out as far as he could. It was no use, though. That extra inch and a half went a long way still, and Kurt grabbed the phone with his grasp.

"Oh, real mature, Blaine!" Kurt glared, holding up the phone, and sitting on the floor. He pointed at the seven "1"s. "I bet you think you're funny."

"Hey now, I can't help that I can't try on a pair of pants at the Gap without you—."

"Shhh!" Kurt's cheeks turned scarlet as he hid his face.

"I don't even know what came over you. It was very hot though." Blaine just grinned at his boyfriend. "I'm down for a repeat."

"No! No! I'm so embarrassed. Oh my God. I can't believe I did that. Oh my God. I'll never be able to go into a Gap again without thinking about it."

"Is that so bad?" The older boy's grin turned into an outright smirk.

"Yes!" Kurt squealed. "I don't _do_ stuff like that, okay? I know when you were fifteen you basically did it any place you could but my extent of anything sexual has been with you. In a bed, on a couch, and that one time in the shower but that was as unexpected as this."

"Don't forget the back seat of my—."

"Don't. Oh my God, Blaine. What have you _done_ to me?"

"Not to get technical here, honey, but you're the one who did something to _me_ in that fitting room."

"I am so embarrassed." Kurt moaned, covering his face. "I don't even—I didn't—it just—happened!"

"You don't see me complaining, now, do you?"

"Well you're used to stuff like this!"

Blaine just laughed. "I'm not _that_ used to it. I haven't had that many sexual experiences in public places. Maybe four other times. Just because I had a lot of sex doesn't mean I had a lot of… that kind of sex."

"I am so embarrassed." Kurt moaned. "I'll never be able to go into a Gap again."

"You work right down the hall from it." Blaine grinned.

Kurt let out an anguished sort of squeak, covering his face again. "Don't tease me, Blaine. Please."

"Kurt!" Blaine laughed, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. "It's precious how embarrassed you are about sex still after all of this time."

"Why can't romance just be touching hands?" Kurt whined into his shoulder. "It's so simple and romantic. And not embarrassing in the least bit."

"Because that wouldn't be very fun." Blaine pulled away from him and lowered his hands so he could see Kurt's face. "You're adorable."

"I wasn't adorable last week in the gap." The younger boy protested.

"You're always adorable." Blaine stood, pulling Kurt gently up with him. "Let's go so you can talk to your boss, alright? And then we'll go to get dinner. It'll be my treat."

"You're only saying that because every time you buy me dinner, I buy you ice cream or a cupcake for dessert on the way home." Kurt muttered.

"This may be true, but it is the actions and not the ulterior motives that count."

"Actually, it is the thought that counts and not the action." His boyfriend corrected.

"Wait here. I've got to go and deal with this." Blaine gestured at his hair, shot Kurt a look, and disappeared into the bathroom. He washed his hair and then dried it as quickly as possible without bothering to style it. _I bet this was Kurt's plan all along,_ he thought to himself as he made his way out into the hall _._

By the time he'd made it, though, Kurt was already fast asleep on the couch and Blaine couldn't bring himself to wake the poor thing up. Instead, he settled down on the couch with him and pulled out his textbook, figuring he could at least use the time to study for his finals.

* * *

"Oh my God, she's so precious!" Kurt gasped as soon as he reached the hospital bed two days later, looking down at the bundle in his stepmother's arms. "She's so _tiny_. Oh my God."

Carole smiled up at him, moving so that she was sitting up straight instead of resting against her pillows. "Here, sit up here with me."

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked hesitantly, letting his bag drop to the ground and setting his car keys on a nearby table. He had come to the hospital the second he'd received his father's text message, but it had taken him nearly two hours to get there. His baby sister was now four hours old. And _absolutely beautiful_.

"Of course, sweetie." Carole smiled and patted the seat next to her. "Burt just went to call your grandmother. The service isn't very good in here. Finn was here, but he had to leave. He'll be back soon."

"I came as soon as I saw the text when I went on my lunch. I'm sorry we missed it." Kurt apologized as he gently took a seat by her, trying not to move the bed enough to wake the sleeping baby. Most babies were not beautiful when they were first born, but his sister was. She had a full head of light reddish hair, chubby and adorable cheeks, tiny fingers, and tiny toes. Her eyes were closed so he didn't know what color they were yet, but he really hoped they were Carole's eyes because they would have gone beautiful with her hair color. She was really going to be a beautiful little girl. That was the only word that came to mind when Kurt looked down at her. Beautiful, just beautiful.

"She's already got a head full of hair." Carole laughed quietly. "Finn did too when he was born."

"She's so tiny." Kurt whispered, reaching out and hesitantly touching her tiny hand. "And so soft."

"Do you want to hold her?"

Kurt looked at Carole, blue eyes lighting up. Then he looked back down at the baby hesitantly. "Are you sure? She's so little."

"It's the same as holding any baby." Carole assured him with another warm smile, looking up when the door opened.

"Hey, kiddo!" Burt walked into the room, beaming. "Meet your new sister yet?"

"Hey, dad!" Kurt grinned back happily.

"I was just telling Kurt that holding a newborn is no different than holding an older baby." Carole explained. "I think he's a little intimidated."

Burt kneeled down, kissed the top of her head, and then ruffled Kurt's hair. "C'mon, Kurt. You won't drop her."

Carole passed the tiny bundle of blankets to Burt, beaming as well.

"Okay… if you're sure." Kurt said, moving his arms into the proper position as his father placed the baby in them. "Oh, wow… She's so light too."

"She weighs more than twice as much as you did when you were born." Burt said, repositioning the baby slightly against Kurt. She shifted slightly against his chest before going still, making his heart melt on the spot. "See? She likes you."

Kurt smiled adorably, wondering how it was possible to feel so much love for such a tiny little baby after only a few minutes. "You think so? Wow…"

"When's Blaine going to be able to make it, kid?" Burt asked, ruffling his son's hair again and looking at his two children proudly.

"His second class got out an hour ago and he called in at work… probably not too long." Kurt said distractedly, eyes not leaving his baby sister. "She's so _perfect_."

"We're still trying to decide a name for her." Carole said tiredly, leaning back against the pillows. She looked exhausted and pale, but still had a smile plastered to her face.

"As long as you don't pick Sophie, I'm sure it will be perfect." Kurt still did not look up from the bundle in his arms, quite mesmerized.

"I've already told her about your obsession with the name, Kurt." Burt laughed. "No one is going near Sophie."

"What are you deciding between?"

"Well, I still really like Melody and Alexis." Carole said. "Burt likes Katrina."

"No, dad." Kurt finally looked up from the baby. "No. It is your fault I'm stuck with this name." He turned his attention from his father to Carole before continuing. "And you cannot let him subject another human being to his terrible choice in names."

"I thought it was a cute name." Burt grunted, prompting an eye roll from his son. "You're just too picky."

"Katrina isn't a bad name. I actually really like it." Carole said, laughing. "But I just don't think she looks like a Katrina. And Kurt is a lovely name, hon."

Kurt made a face. "I'm not so much a fan."

The door opened again and a very hesitant Blaine stepped in, biting his lip.

"Hi, hon!" Carole sat up again, smiling happily.

"Hi." Blaine smiled and made his way into the room, closing the door quietly. "I tried to call but it kept going straight to voicemail. I don't think the lady at the desk was very happy to tell me where you all were."

"Oh, that lady was rude when we first got here." Carole frowned, but brightened almost immediately and waved him forward. "Come in all the way, sweetie, don't be shy!"

Blaine moved farther into the room, getting an adorable little smile when he saw Kurt with the baby. He stopped by his boyfriend, looking down. "Aw, how precious!"

"That's almost exactly what Kurt said!" Carole said happily. "You two are so alike!"

"Can I hold her next?" Blaine looked up at his boyfriend's parents.

"No. She's mine." Kurt said in a very stubborn voice, not even looking up.

"First we couldn't get him to hold her and now he won't want to let her go." Burt chuckled. "Kurt, you have to let Blaine hold her."

"But she likes me. And I like her. I'm just going to steal her, okay?" the younger boy protested.

"Not okay." Blaine said. "That is called kidnapping and it is illegal. What do they teach you kids in public school?"

"A whole lot of nothing." Kurt frowned, looking at Blaine with big blue eyes. "Don't steal her away. She's my baby sister."

"Kurt Elijah Hummel." Burt made his way over. "He was like this over his baby dolls too, Blaine."

Blaine laughed.

"No. He'd sob if you took one away. He carried five around at a time there for a few weeks." Burt said very seriously. "C'mon, kid. You can have her back."

"But she's tiny." Kurt whined. "I just want to hold her forever."

"Hon, shouldn't Blaine get to hold the baby?" Carole asked gently from the bed.

"No." Kurt shook his head. "She's very comfortable. We don't want to disturb her."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Only for a few minutes, I promise."

Kurt hesitantly let his father take the baby, debating whether or not it would be considered childish to glare at Blaine. He determined it probably would be and refrained.

"Have you held a newborn before, Blaine?" Burt questioned.

"Yes, sir." Blaine said quietly, expertly taking the baby from Kurt's father and cradling it. "She's absolutely adorable. And she's got your hair, Kurt."

"I have excellent hair." Kurt whispered, leaning over his boyfriend's shoulder. "Isn't she tiny?"

"Babies usually are." Blaine laughed, rocking the baby. "Aw, she's so cute. What color are her eyes?"

"She's got my eyes too." Burt said proudly. "At least this one will look at me. Kurt takes after his mom, apart from his hair color."

"But she's got my nose and mouth." Carole added. "Burt, will your parents and Paige be coming?"

"Uh, I'm not sure. Mom and Dad will later tonight, but I don't know about Paige. She's back in New York and will get down when she can I guess." Burt said, sounding unsure.

"Did you not call her?" Carole asked, looking at him sternly.

"Mom said she would." Burt grunted, shrugging.

"Burt, she's your sister." Carole sighed. "You need to call and tell her yourself."

"The last conversation we hadn't wasn't exactly civil, Carole."

Kurt, who had been paying close attention to his father and stepmother, returned his attention to his boyfriend and his sister. Even though he was very jealous that Blaine was holding the baby instead of him, he had to admit that Blaine looked absolutely amazing with a baby in his arms. It gave him butterflies in his stomach and he began to think about them having kids one day, maybe, and Blaine holding their own children just like that.

"What's that look for?" Blaine's hazel eyes met his and he gave Kurt a lopsided grin.

"Nothing. You. You hold her well." Kurt said, rather embarrassed for being caught staring at his boyfriend.

"I was staying at Wes' when his little sister was born, so I had a lot of practice." Blaine explained. "She's probably about four now. But I have to say, this little one is much more adorable."

Kurt smiled, resting his chin on Blaine's shoulder and looking down at the baby. "She's perfect, isn't she?"

"All babies are." Blaine smiled back at him, making the butterflies in his stomach start up again. His boyfriend turned his attention to Carole and Burt. "Have you all picked a name for her?"

"I think I like Melody Hummel-Hudson." Carole answered. "Finn suggested it a few days ago and I think it's really cute."

"Finn only wants to call her Melon Head." Kurt scoffed. "But it is a pretty name. And it doesn't show up on my list."

"List?" Blaine questioned, looking confused.

"I have a list of names for my future children." Kurt said, waving his hand impatiently. "It's been a work in progress since I was seven."

"Really?" Blaine laughed.

"Can I hold her now, pretty please?" Kurt begged, not able to take watching someone else hold the baby any longer. "Pretty, pretty please?"

Burt rolled his eyes. "She's not going anywhere, kiddo."

"Yes, you can have her." Blaine smiled at the younger boy and held out the baby.

Kurt took his sister excitedly, cradling her to his chest. He beamed when the baby scooted closer again, scrunching her nose up and letting out a tiny yawn. He let out a dreamy sigh, staring down at her. "I'm in love with you, Melody."

"Kurt's not going to let the name go, you realize?" Blaine laughed, going over to hug Carole.

"No, I knew he wouldn't as soon as Finn suggested it." Carole laughed, hugging him back. "How was school, sweetheart?"

"It was alright." Blaine said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Kurt made his way over, sitting on a chair nearby. "Today and tomorrow are the last days before finals."

"Summer school is almost out already?" Burt asked. "I figured you'd go 'til August."

"I wish." Blaine sighed. "I thought so too, but they were only about five weeks long. If I'd known, I never would have taken two."

Kurt looked up from the baby sympathetically. "He had to write a thirteen page paper in the first week and a half."

Burt cringed. "Ouch. Bet you aren't so glad you're an English major now, are you?"

Blaine just kind of laughed. "I still like it. It's been a whole lot of reading and writing, but I like the work."

Carole patted his leg. "He's a smart boy, Burt. Maybe you can talk some sense into Finn."

"Finn's good at football." Burt protested. "He'd be a hell of a pro quarterback. I bet he'll get field time this year too."

"I'd like for him to place an emphasis on education over sports is all." Carole sighed a bit and then sat up straight when the baby began to cry. "Here, hon, she's probably hungry."

"That would be our cue to end the visit." Kurt said quickly, practically hopping up. He carefully handed over his sister with record speed.

"Now we know what to do if we want him out of hair for a couple of months." Burt chuckled, watching his son in amusement.

"Not funny, Dad. Not funny." Kurt said, grabbing Blaine's hand. "Come on, let's go."

"If you boys don't want to drive all the way back down to Cincinnati, you can always stay at home." Carole said, rocking the baby.

"Blaine's got finals to study for." Kurt frowned a bit, grabbing his bag and his car keys off of the small table beside the bed with his free hand. "But we'll come back tomorrow, right, Blaine?"

"Of course." Blaine nodded, squeezing his hand. "If you want to stay here, I can go up alone."

The younger boy looked hesitant, and then shook his head. "I don't want to leave you alone in the apartment all night." He turned to his Carole and his dad. "We'll come up tomorrow as soon as Blaine gets home. Is that okay?"

"That sounds perfect." Carole smiled. "Thank you for coming, boys."

"I'll walk them out. I'll be right back, Carole." Burt stood, exiting the room with Blaine and Kurt as Carole readjusted the baby. He waited until the door completely closed before he began to speak in a hushed voice. "On the phone yesterday you said you all had something to talk to me about? Is everything okay? Do you two need money?"

"No, no, everything is fine. We're fine." Kurt assured him. "It's nothing big, Dad. It can wait."

"You may as well tell me since you're here, Kurt."

"You just had a baby. You should go in there." Kurt pointed at the door.

"They're busy right now." Burt grunted, looking a bit embarrassed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "She's your wife." Sure, Blaine and Kurt were supposed to scatter from the room. They were gay. But wasn't it supposed to be a loving thing between two parents and their new baby? Apparently not, but then again, when had Kurt ever understood anything to do with straight couples?

His father clearly his throat loudly. "Yes, well… what did you want to talk about?"

Blaine took a seat at a small table in the waiting room, and Burt and Kurt sat down as well. "We were—" Kurt gave him a look. "I was wondering what you thought Kurt should do about work… when he's in school. He's taking eight classes."

" _Eight_?" Burt stared at his son. "Kiddo, I think you're taking on a little too much at once."

Kurt gave Blaine another look and then rolled his eyes. "The classes are designed at CCAD so you can take more at once, Dad. Blaine's just being Blaine."

"He wants to go to school for four days, and work the other three." Blaine interjected. "He won't possibly have time to do everything he needs to do to get good grades if he works that much. And he absolutely refuses to see reason. I've tried talking sense into him several times."

"And I have told _him_ several times that no store is going to let me only work one day a week. That's just not how things work."

"It works for me." Burt shrugged, as if it was the simplest thing ever. "Work for me on Fridays. You'll be coming up here anyway. That way, you can have the weekends free to work on your clothes making stuff. You can do what you used to do on weekends. Keep up with the office, answer phones, help on the cars some. Plus, Jeff'd love to see you more."

"Oh." Kurt said quietly. Maybe it _was_ the simplest things ever. Why didn't he consider helping out at the garage some?

"See? I told you I know what I'm talking about." Blaine said proudly. "You get one day of work a week so you don't feel bad about me working, and you get the weekends to work on school stuff. And your dad gets help. And I get to see you. Everybody wins."

"I still want to work at Express through the summer though." The younger boy said. "I'm making a lot of money there."

"Just don't work too much, kiddo. You need to take care of yourself, alright? Don't take on too much." Burt said, reaching over and ruffling his hair. "We'll talk about it some more on Friday night."

"Tell Carole to not worry about a _thing_. I'll come early and cook dinner and I'll make some cake Thursday night! For the baby!"

"She can't eat cake." Blaine pointed out.

"Well, I'll make it for her and we can eat it! We'll have to stop at the store, Blaine. I saw a cake recipe in a magazine that I've been dying to try; I just haven't had an excuse." Kurt prattled on excitedly, standing up. "And maybe I can try to make that new type of lemonade I read about. It looked difficult, but I bet I could get it after a few tries."

Blaine blinked several times before nodding at his boyfriend, smiling. "Sounds like a plan."

"Alright, well, you two should probably head out now so you can beat rush hour on the high way." Burt said, checking his watch. "I bet they're done now. Don't you?"

"I don't know how long it takes to do… _that_." Kurt said, shuddering a bit. "Maybe? I don't know why you and Finn feel the need to ask me about your straight-guy problems when I'm the gayest thing to hit this town and Blaine's right up there with me."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"You read Vogue and watch American Idol, Blaine. You're gay." Kurt rolled his own eyes.

"Finn watches American Idol, Kurt." Blaine pointed out.

"You boys be careful on your way back to Cincinnati." Burt said quickly, trying to put an end to the long discussion he knew the boys would be launching into. After all, he'd lived with Kurt for almost nineteen years and with Blaine for nine months. This had played a big part, most likely, in the fact that he wasn't so uncomfortable around the two boys together anymore. At this point, it was hard to even think back on how uncomfortable things had been in the beginning.

"Alright, alright, we will." Kurt said, wrapping his arms around his father's neck and hugging him. "I miss you, dad."

"I miss you too, kiddo." Burt hugged his son back. "You know both you and Blaine are welcome home any time, not just Fridays."

"We know." Kurt smiled and pulled away, stepping closer to his boyfriend. "We'll see you later, Dad." He waved and then started to walk out of the waiting room, muttering about exactly _which_ magazine he had seen that recipe in and how on _Earth_ he was going to find it amongst all of the million magazines on Blaine's bookshelf.

"Good luck studying with him like that." Burt laughed, patting Blaine's shoulder. "See you later, bud."

"Bye, Burt. Congratulations again." Blaine gave the older man a small wave and chased after his boyfriend, who was by now so far down the hallway that Blaine couldn't even see him.

* * *

"She was precious." Blaine said quietly as the two made their way into their apartment two hours later, setting down the bags of groceries in his hands. As they had been driving separate cars, Kurt had stopped at the grocery store on his own. Blaine had gone out to help him carry in the groceries, though, as soon as he heard Kurt's car pull up outside.

Kurt tossed Blaine's backpack down on the couch, absolutely giddy with excitement. "She was! Did you see her tiny little finger nails? I'm so jealous Finn lives right there and gets to see her all the time! It's not fair!"

"I'm sure Finn's busy with football practice by now. Doesn't OSU start training early?" Blaine pointed out.

"Busy with that or Rachel. She's leaving for New York soon and he's been whining about it for days. I don't know why he's surprised. Everyone knew Rachel was going to leave. And they haven't broken up."

"I'm sure it's tough…" Blaine said thoughtfully. "What if I decided to go off to school? You'd be upset, too."

"But he _knew_." Kurt protested. "Everyone knew."

"It doesn't make it any easier, does it? When you found out I was going to UK, you almost cried." Blaine eyed his boyfriend carefully. That was something they both remembered all too well. Talking about that was just as hard as it was talking about Kurt returning to McKinley—and that had been _torture_ for Blaine. He knew Kurt needed to transfer back to be happy, and he wanted Kurt happy, but it had been _so hard_ to say goodbye to him. Sure, they still had nights and weekends, but… but it had been awful for Blaine. Which was why he felt just as awful about going off to UK.

"There was a shock factor there, though. I didn't see why you had turned down NYU and all of those other fancy schools for… the University of Kentucky. I thought you were… staying." Kurt admitted, sitting down on their couch and looking up at his boyfriend expectantly.

Blaine took a seat by him, smiling, and scooted close. "I just didn't know how to tell you… I don't know… I didn't want to stay in Ohio, but I wanted to be close to you… and the English program at UK is really very good… and you saw the campus when you went with me to my advising appointment. It's absolutely beautiful."

"It was… Hey, Blaine?"

"Yes, my love?" Blaine asked, pulling Kurt to his side.

Kurt snuggled up, fitting perfectly, and rested his head on Blaine's chest. "I love you."

Blaine's smile grew. "I love you too, Kurt. I'm so glad we live together. I know we don't see each other as much as we'd like but I still really like living alone with you."

"Do you think… one day we'll be there, picking up our baby?" Kurt asked slowly, tilting his head up to look at his boyfriend.

"Yes. Yes, I do think so." Blaine answered instantly and confidently, pulling the younger boy even closer. "I'm absolutely positive."

"I have to say, though, I hope Dad and Carole are done. I don't know how much more kids they can raise."

Blaine laughed loudly. "I'm sure they could raise a few more. They're not that old."

"I kind of worry about Dad." Kurt admitted, looking down. "Babies are stressful and it wasn't that long ago that he had his heart attack… I'm just a little worried he'll have another one, I guess."

"You stay on him enough about his eating." Blaine leaned down and kissed Kurt's forehead. "He seems perfectly healthy and _happy_. I think he'll be just fine."

"But what if he's not? What if he has a heart attack and…" the younger boy trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. He hadn't been worried about his father too much, but being back in the hospital reminded him not only of his stay but his father's as well. In his opinion, his family spent too much time in Lima Memorial Hospital. This needed to change.

"Kurt, he's fine." Blaine whispered reassuringly, stroking the back of his neck. "You don't need to worry about him. Babies are stressful, but so are almost-nineteen year olds who spend money on Daddy's credit card for 'emergency' clothes."

"It was only once." Kurt protested, cheering up a bit. "I had to have new clothes for work, Blaine!"

"Of course you did. Because the closet full of clothes you already had wasn't enough." Blaine laughed, moving his hand down and tickling his boyfriend's side a bit. "Don't worry, Kurt."

"I always have to be worrying about _something_." Kurt said through a loud giggle. "Don't do that!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"You're not sorry. You say that every time but you—Blaine!—do it anyway! Stop it, you nuisance!"

The older boy grinned again adorably. "Stop what?"

"Tickling me like that." Kurt moved out of his boyfriend's arms and scooted to the other end of the couch, but he was smiling himself.

"But it's so fun to get you all worked up." Blaine reached over, pulling him closer again.

Kurt rested his hands on Blaine's shoulders and then moved onto his lap. "Melody was so cute."

"You'll be heartbroken if they go with any other name." Blaine rested his hands on Kurt's lower waist.

"I will. I think it's perfect. I can't believe _Finn_ came up with it."

"I think you all don't give Finn enough credit." Blaine sighed a bit. "I used to meet him for lunch every Friday when I was taking the classes at OSU. He's not as dumb as he acts. Did you know he's really good in history?"

"I didn't." Kurt admitted, looking down at his hands on Blaine's chest. "Just like I didn't know _you_ were very good at math until you were helping me with my Calculus in the beginning of my senior year."

"I'm also excellent in science and music theory." Blaine quipped.

"Congratulations, Blaine. You are a male Hermione Granger."

"Who does that make you?" Blaine tilted his head.

"I don't know, but Finn would be Ron Weasley."

"You're saying I will end up marrying Finn?" Blaine grinned.

"Oh God, no. I take that back." Kurt said very quickly. "This discussion is over."

Blaine just laughed, looking back at him with warm eyes.

This was short lived, though. Kreacher came bounding into the room, hopping onto the couch and barking noisily.

"Oh no." Kurt mumbled quietly and instantly.

"You forgot to put him in his cage!" Blaine gasped, a grin spreading across his face. He ducked his head very quickly, hoping Kurt wouldn't notice.

"No, I didn't, I swear! I put him in it!" Kurt stood and glared at Kreacher. "Bad dog, _bad dog_!"

Kreacher tilted his head and climbed onto Blaine's lap, making himself comfortable.

"If he ate anything, oh my God, if he ate anything— oh my God." Kurt took off towards his room and not a minute later there was a loud moan. "No!"

Blaine covered his mouth. He could not smirk. He could not laugh. No, all he could think of was _all_ the times that his younger boyfriend had chastised him about leaving stuff out and not keeping a better eye on their puppy. This was no laughing matter, but damn, Blaine just couldn't help but smirk. The irony was simply amazing.

"Kreacher, you are in _trouble_. He ate my shoes! My shoes!" Kurt exclaimed, storming back into the living room.

"Oh no." Blaine said in a surprisingly controlled voice.

"Don't even dare, Blaine."

"Don't even dare what, Kurt? I mean _he's just a dog. He doesn't know what he's doing_." Blaine couldn't help the grin. It just came, honestly. He tried to make it go away, but without luck.

"I hate you. I hate you both." Kurt said, pointing at both of them.

" _This is why we have to put our things away, Blaine. Because Kreacher doesn't know better."_

"Consider yourself single." The younger boy said, scowling deeply.

" _I don't know why you get so upset, Blaine, honestly. I don't know_ how many times _I've told you to clean up after yourself."_

Kurt crossed his hands over his chest, scowl growing deeper. _"_ Disowned. The both of you."

Kreacher stood on his back legs to lick Blaine's face. " _Kreacher, it's okay. Ignore the mean curly headed man. He just needs to learn to put his things away!"_

"You know what, Blaine? You enjoy every minute of this because you're sleeping on the couch."

"What? Why?" Blaine scoffed.

"For being a curly headed asshole."

Blaine held Kreacher up, their noses touching, and whispered loudly, "Daddy's mad at us."

Kreacher just yipped excitedly, legs moving as if he was running even though he was clearly being held up in the air.

"But I locked it, Blaine! I _swear_ I did!"

Blaine stood up, dog in hand, and went to the kitchen. The lock for the cage was very clearly on the kitchen counter next to the coffee maker. "Or you meant to lock it but got distracted by the coffee machine." He chirped.

"Yeah, well, keep on laughing. Maybe I'll steal your card and go buy myself another pair of $300 shoes to make up for the ones he destroyed." Kurt huffed.

"Daddy's gonna break me!" Blaine cooed, going back into the living room and sitting in his previous seat on the couch. "Daddy's gonna run me into the ground financially and leave me for someone with more monies, Kreacher. You're about to be part of a broken home."

Kurt just maintained his scowl, not looking amused in the least bit.

"Aw, come on, Kurt." Blaine tilted his head. "It's just a pair of shoes."

"It wasn't _just_ a pair of shoes. I _loved_ those shoes." Kurt finally threw himself onto the couch next to his boyfriend, glaring daggers at his dog. "You are a very, very, very bad dog, Kreacher. Did you hear that? Do you understand? You are in _a lot of trouble_."

Kreacher hopped onto Kurt's lap, stood on his hind legs, and began licking all over his face repeatedly.

"No. You are _bad_. You are in _trouble_. Sit still."

Kreacher just leapt off the couch and began running in circles around the living room.

" _Why isn't he listening to me?"_ Kurt whined.

Blaine shrugged, leaned over, and licked his cheek, earning himself a slap to the back of the head.


	22. Chapter 22

"You've missed the last two Friday Night Dinners, Blaine. You can't cancel again. I don't care who they have to call in. It's not your responsibility and it's not even in your availability." Kurt said into his cell phone. He was sitting at his dad's desk in the main office, holding his phone to his ear with his shoulder and he cut his sandwich in two. He was talking to Blaine, of course, who was trying to get out of dinner _again._ The only other person in the room was Jeff, one of his mechanics who Kurt had now known for years. Jeff seemed too preoccupied with Angry Birds, though, to pay any attention to Kurt and his phone conversation with his boyfriend.

"They asked me to work." Blaine sighed. Kurt could hear loud chattering in the background and knew he must be getting out of one of his classes.

Kurt could feel himself getting annoyed. It started in his stomach and worked it's way throughout his entire body. It wasn't _fair_ that Blaine kept ditching the dinners. He knew Blaine wasn't doing it to hurt his feelings, but it did. It also wasn't fair that the people Blaine worked with kept asking him to work for them, either. Blaine lived out of state. Why did they think he wanted to prolong his drive any longer? Did they just not care what time Blaine got at home at night?

It wasn't just that, though, although Kurt would never admit it. Yes, he hated that people were taking advantage of Blaine. But the real reason that Kurt got so upset was a more selfish reason. He couldn't help it, though. He'd matured, he really had. He would never admit the real reason he got so upset.

And that reason was that he was having trouble adjusting to college. He hated that he'd had to _adjust_ to so many things without the past two years. He missed his family. He missed his friends. And he tried to not feel jealous of Rachel and Mercedes, who were off having the time of their lives in New York. New York was besides the point though. Well, mostly. Kurt was overwhelmed with more school work than he felt like he could handle. He was exhausted from driving so much on an almost daily basis. He felt like he barely had time to eat and he hadn't used his moisturizers in _eight_ days.

He was overwhelmed and unhappy. But when he spent time with Blaine, it felt a little better. Because he remembered why he hadn't gone to New York, where he could just live on campus, walk places, and take classes with Mercedes while meeting Rachel on weekends. He was reminded why the long drive was worth it—because at night, he got to lie next to Blaine Anderson. Because when he woke up, Blaine sometimes left him sweet notes by the coffee maker or, even better, already had his coffee made for him. Because he truly loved living with Blaine.

Lately, though, he hadn't seen a whole lot of Blaine. The two were two preoccupied with school work. Kurt's new best friend was his sketchbook and Blaine's new best friend was his laptop, which he was always hastily typing essays and analyses on. Their quality time was muffled hellos and goodbyes, ransacking the entire house looking for Blaine's homework assignment that had been "right there" two minutes ago, and bickering over whose turn it was to pick up the living room—which had remained tidy until about mid-September when the school work got a little harder and the free time got a lot less abundant.

Kurt knew he was about to act irrationally, but he couldn't help it. The more time he went without quality time from Blaine, the more upset and stressed out he got. It was becoming hard to handle, it really was, but he had no idea how to even bring that up to his boyfriend.

"No. You can't. Blaine, you can't. Dad and Carole starting to think something is wrong."

"Why would my working on Friday mean something is wrong? They don't think that." Blaine laughed. "You're just paranoid, Kurt."

Paranoid? No. If the roles had been reversed and it had been Carole who suddenly stopped showing up for dinners, Kurt would have been concerned. He knew what his father and stepmother were thinking. He would have been thinking the same thing to.

This was exactly why Kurt didn't try to talk about how he was feeling. Because Blaine would write it off in the same way he'd written off Kurt's previous statement, stating he was being paranoid. They'd been fine on communication before. They had been making progress. With school in the way, Kurt felt like they'd taken ten _leaps_ back.

"No, I'm not being paranoid." Kurt hissed, well aware that Jeff was now glancing at him curiously. He really should have waited for Jeff to be done with his lunch before deciding to go on his own. Then again, he hadn't thought he'd be arguing with Blaine over his lunch either. "If you don't show up, Blaine, I'll be so pissed. You haven't seen Melody in three weeks. She's _laughing_ now!"

He heard Blaine sigh again, mutter a friendly "excuse me" to someone, and then heard rustling as he switched ears. "Fine. I'll tell them I can't do it."

"If you would rather spend all night at a bookstore and not with family, then you just do that." Kurt snapped, well aware that just contradicted him telling Blaine he _had_ to come moments before. He had to learn to not check his text messages when he went on breaks. Especially lately. Arguing with Blaine over the same thing every Friday only added to his huge pile of stress. And when he was arguing, he couldn't string together a single coherent thought and ended up contradicting himself. It was exhausting.

"Kurt…" Blaine sighed. He could picture Blaine doing that thing where he closed his eyes, as if annoyed or upset, and then reopened them. "Kurt, I'll be there."

"No. If you don't want to come, then I don't want you to come."

Maybe it was irrational to get so upset. But was it too much to ask that they have _one night_ they were guaranteed together? Kurt sure didn't think so. It was the beginning of October, meaning it had almost been a year since Kurt was attacked. The boys were constantly preoccupied, but until October Friday had been their day. Kurt went to work, Blaine went to school. They spent time together during the dinner and then, after driving back in their separate cars, they would curl up on the couch and get caught up on their DVR. They would often fall asleep together on the couch and remain their until one of them woke up in the middle of the night and got both of them into bed. Kurt wanted those Fridays back.

Now on Fridays, Blaine worked until six and got home at eight. Kurt usually made it home around nine or ten because he found it nearly impossible to put Melody down—anyone would (and did) have the same problem, though, because she was so adorable. Melody was the sweetest and happiest little baby you would ever see and Kurt still maintained the mind set that his little sister was perfection. By the time Kurt made it home, he had always forgotten all about his Post-Melody-Visit Contentment and he would be so irritated with Blaine that he would shut himself in their bedroom and sketch all night until he fell asleep alone.

Sure, he would always feel better when he woke up and realized he was in his pajamas even though he definitely hadn't fallen asleep in them. He would curl under the warm covers and feel little butterflies in his stomach when he saw his sketchbook closed on the desk and a glass of water on the nightstand, just in case. Unfortunately, and probably because of all of the stress, Kurt found himself waking up more frequently to long coughing fits that required the water. And sure, he'd feel even better when he realized he was pressed close to Blaine, who had gotten into the habit of sleeping late on the weekends since he woke up so damn early Monday through Friday.

But at that moment it didn't matter that in the morning Kurt would feel better, believing Blaine when he said he'd "definitely be there next Friday." Because the following Friday it always came back to the same old thing. This. And Kurt didn't like _this_. Kurt was sick of _this_. He needed that. He needed what they'd had two months ago.

"It's not that I don't want to come, Kurt. They just need someone to pick up a shift."

"No. They're taking advantage of you because they know you'll do it. Because you're too nice. There are tons of other people who work there that actually, oh, you know, _live in the state of Kentucky_." Kurt whispered harshly.

"Kurt, they aren't taking advantage of me. You don't understand. Ever since Sarah had to leave to take care of her grandmother—."

Kurt had heard this before, but was completely uninterested. It wasn't that he was heartless. It was that Blaine was a pushover. It was that the argument was always exactly the same, just another name taking care of another situation. Kurt had been in the bookstore with Blaine once, the day after what would have been his senior prom had he gone. There had been _several_ employees working at the bookstore. It wasn't like they didn't have people. "Well I'm glad a bookstore means more to you than your boyfriend. Goodbye."

"Would you stop with the guilting?" Blaine snapped. "It's getting really old."

Kurt spoke a little louder, becoming angrier. It wasn't fair that he had to argue in order to spend time with the boy he _lived_ with. It didn't seem right. "You throw a fit so I can only work one day a week but you work two jobs five days a week and one whole Saturday a month? Maybe when you start making this an equal relationship, I won't have to guilt you into spending time with me and my family— _our_ family!"

"I want to spend time with you!" Blaine's voice began to rise, but he lowered it almost instantly. "I'm not going to fight with you over the _phone_ , Kurt. This is ridiculous. You're acting like an immature brat."

"You're such a hypocrite, Blaine. _I miss you. I want to spend time with you. Don't work so much_. Maybe I'll go get a full time job and see how _you_ like it. Oh, wait, I did. And you made me quit!"

"You _can't_ work that much. Your lun—."

Kurt pushed the "End Call" button, threw his phone into his father's desk, and left the office. He was well aware of the fact that Jeff watched him go, looking extremely confused. He was also well aware that he was hungry, that his lunch wasn't over for another twenty minutes, but that he was now too upset to even think about eating. If there was one thing he _hated_ , it was that Blaine always used his _health_ and his _lung_ against him when they argued about stuff like this.

And if they were in a position where they didn't need money, why did Blaine insist on working so damn much? Or was he really just that much of a pushover? Yes, he was. And it drove Kurt _crazy_. Crazy, crazy, crazy, fucking _crazy_.

The phone to the garage rang and, after several seconds, Burt carried it to Kurt, looking confused. "It's Blaine, kiddo. He said you weren't answering your cell phone."

The immediate thought was to tell his father to tell Blaine exactly where he could shove his phone call, but then Burt would know they were arguing. So he grabbed the phone and, in a controlled voice, spoke. "Hello?"

"Kurt, why did you hang up on me?" he heard his older boyfriend sigh.

"Blaine, I'm at work."

"At your dad's fu—freaking garage. You can stop going through paper work and changing oil for two minutes. I thought you said you were on lunch."

Kurt carried the phone out into the parking lot, holding the door open for a customer and then walking towards his car so he wouldn't be overheard. "Don't come."

"I just called and told them I couldn't cover it."

"No. Do it."

" _You drive me freaking batty!"_

Normally he might have thought it was cute. He had just been thinking that Blaine drove him crazy and now Blaine was saying Kurt drove him batty. They were so alike in ways that it wasn't even funny. But he was still too annoyed to find his adorable boyfriend adorable, and shrugged off the thought. There were other times for thinking about Blaine and his debatable adorableness. In the middle of an argument was not one.

" _I_ drive _you_ batty? Do you know what it's like living with _you_ every single day?"

"Oh, real mature, Kurt. Act your fucking age."

Kurt heard a dial tone and scoffed, quickly dialing his boyfriend's phone number. He probably should have been concerned with the fact that Blaine was actually cussing, which he only did when he was incredibly annoyed. But he couldn't seem to find it in him to care because he was annoyed too. He hadn't properly spent time with his boyfriend in weeks, and then Blaine thought he could hang up on him? Never mind that Kurt just hung up on Blaine two minutes ago. It was expected from Kurt—he was the dramatic one. Well, more so than Blaine, at least. The second Blaine picked up he spoke, not even giving Blaine a chance to say hello. "Don't you dare hang up on _me_!"

"Then don't be a bitch!"

"Now _I'm_ going to hang up on _you_ , you short curly haired brat! And I'm not a bitch!"

Kurt pushed "End Call" again and walked into the garage.

"What was that about? Was he in a wreck or something?" Burt grunted, looking up from the truck he was working on. The tone in his father's voice, though, showed that he didn't really think Blaine had been in a wreck. He just wanted information without having to directly ask for it, the sneaky man.

"I wish he'd get in a wreck so he couldn't drive to work." Kurt mumbled to himself, and then shook his head and spoke so his father could hear. "No. Everything is fine."

"Ah. You're mad at him. Poor kid."

Kurt shot a look at Jeff, who was off of his break and back in the main part of the garage. "You have such a huge mouth."

"Well you peed in my car when you were five." Jeff retorted.

"Maybe if you hadn't let me drink all that juice like Mom told you, my bladder wouldn't have exploded."

"Maybe if you weren't so spoiled, you wouldn't have thrown a fit for all that juice."

"Kurt, Jeff, shut up!" Another mechanic said from across the room, looking up from a Toyota.

"It's pointless, Harry." Burt said, looking up. "This has been going on since I hired Jeff when Kurt was four. It's their way of bonding."

"It's their way of being annoying." The other mechanic, Harry, mumbled as he returned to his work.

"This is what I get for hiring a nineteen year old fifteen years ago." Burt sighed.

"Not nineteen anymore, Boss!" Jeff said, heading back into the office.

"You just had a lunch! Where are you going?"

"Now it's my fifteen minute on the clock break, Boss!"

"Kurt, change the oil in that Chevy over there, will ya?" Burt sighed. "I need new employees."

* * *

"So… is he still mad at me?" Blaine asked, shifting his weight back and forth onto each leg.

"If grumbling how he needs to change his Facebook status to single means mad, then yes. He goes through deactivating his Facebook and re-activating it more than anyone I know." Finn said cheerfully, grinning and holding the door open for Blaine. "You didn't have to knock, you know. I never do."

Blaine shrugged, glancing back to make sure he had turned his car lights off, and stepped into the house. Finn had barely closed the door before Carole rushed into the room wiping her hands on her apron. She wrapped her arms around him in a big hug that warmed his heart. He had really missed Kurt's stepmother. They still talked on the phone occasionally, but nothing beat Carole's hugs. "Hello, Carole."

"Hi, hon!" she gave him a tight squeeze and then stepped back, ruffling his hair. "You're in very big trouble. You know the rules in this house."

"Huh?"

"No missing Friday Night Dinners unless it's school related." Carole and Finn both said together.

"But—work—and—."

They both repeated, at the same time, "No missing Friday Night Dinners unless it's school related."

"But—oh, okay." Blaine said, a little embarrassed. Of course he'd heard this, but he thought it more applied to Kurt than himself. He didn't think they'd really mind if _he_ missed the dinners, but apparently they did. He mumbled an almost shy, "Sorry."

"You better be, kid." Burt grunted, coming in through the front door behind him. He flashed Blaine a pleased grin. "I hear Kurt's not very pleased with you. Good luck. I love when he's angry at someone that isn't me."

Carole rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. "You're awful."

"I had my fill of Kurt fits when he was little. You can't blame me for being glad his anger is aimed at someone else, Carole. I don't think you understand a Kurt fit. You haven't seen very many. Kid can be downright spiteful."

"Sure can." Blaine muttered.

"Oh, you don't even know the half of it, bud." Burt laughed. "Why do you think he's spoiled rotten?"

"This is true." Blaine gave a sigh, switching his keys from one hand to the other. He hoped this argument wouldn't last. Maybe Kurt would be so happy that Blaine showed up that he'd forget all about it. Doubtful, but who knew? Stranger things had happened.

"Have you had your oil changed recently? You and Kurt both drive your cars a lot and you need to make you sure stay on top of that." Burt asked, after hearing the jangle of the keys. "I meant to ask you the last time I saw you but I forgot."

"Er… It's been a while but think it's fine." The younger boy kind of shrugged. He didn't really think about it too much.

Burt took his car keys from him without even asking, turned right back around, and went out the front door muttering, "These three boys not keeping up with their cars are going to kill me."

"Blaine's just getting in trouble all over the place." Finn grinned. "I'm glad it's not me."

Carole ruffled Finn's hair. "Give it time, sweetie."

"I almost dread saying this but—." Blaine began.

"In his bedroom, with Melody." Carole answered, gesturing at the stairs.

" _Melon Head_." Finn corrected.

"Finn, you cannot go around and call my baby Melon Head." Carole sighed, giving Blaine a look.

"If I start this early, though, she might think it's her name. That'd be so awesome."

Carole covered her face as she shook her head. "Burt's right. You boys are going to kill us. Go on up there, Blaine. Maybe since he has Melody—"

"Melon Head."

"Finn! _Maybe_ since he has _Melody_ , he'll go a little easier on you."

"Not easier." Blaine sighed, standing up straight. "Just quieter with more mean looks."

"Don't know how you do it, dude. Living alone with Kurt and putting up with his attitude?" Finn said. "It'd drive me crazy."

"I could say the same thing about you and Rachel." Blaine muttered.

"Oh, I _love_ Rachel!" Carole gasped. "Do you not like her? Why not? She's just the tiniest little thing. And she's very goal oriented. She balances Finn out nicely."

"And she's hot." Finn added, putting his hands in his pockets. Blaine resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Only Finn would come right out and say that. (Wes probably would too, but that was okay.) "They don't get along well, mom."

"I thought you two went out on a date and had a nice time." Carole said, looking puzzled. "And you and Kurt always went to dinner with her and Mercedes when you two first started dating."

Blaine shrugged, feeling rather awkward. The truth? Well, he didn't have a completely justified reason to _not_ like her, per se. The more time he spent with her, though, he just liked her less. At first it had been okay, but the more and more she said rude things, the less he liked her. And then, right before he had went to UK's orientation about a month after his graduation, and she asked when he was going to get it over with and dump Kurt already when Kurt went to use the bathroom, well that had been that. Sure, Blaine was overly sensitive. This wasn't news to anybody. And yes, Kurt was right and sometimes you just had to look past stuff she said to see the better person… but Blaine didn't have a whole lot of patience. He didn't know how to explain this, so he just shrugged again. "Yeah, it was alright."

Carole ruffled his curly hair. "Go on and find Kurt, hon. Tell him dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes, okay?"

"Okay." Blaine smiled at her, made his way up the familiar stairs and headed to the end of the hallway, where Kurt's room was. The door was open and he could hear Kurt talking to Melody in a gentle voice. She made cooing noises, but every once in a while she'd let out an adorable loud giggle and then shriek. Every time she did this, Kurt would start laughing loudly, making her giggle turn into a full out laugh—which Blaine thought was absolutely adorable.

Blaine stood there, listening to the two for a few minutes with a silly smile on his face and wondering if Kurt would be so cute with _their_ baby, before hesitantly walking into the room. "Hey."

Kurt, who was lying on the bed with Melody next to him, looked up at him. He didn't say anything, just stared at him. Blaine could see the contentment in his face quickly turn to irritation and he braced himself. Yes, Kurt was still mad.

"You're going to at least say hello, right?" Blaine made his way to the bed, sitting on the edge and scooping Melody up. "Hello there, pumpkin."

Melody let out a string of baby babble, green eyes wide and excited. She was very friendly around most people, and Blaine was definitely included in this category. Carole had even joked that she thought Blaine was Melody's favorite because whenever he walked into a room, no matter who was holding her, she'd always grin just a little bigger. Blaine thought she was just excitable period, but he did like the idea of Melody truly getting as excited to see him as she was to see Kurt or Finn. It made him feel like he really belonged in the family.

"I wasn't sure if you were even going to come." Kurt finally mumbled over his little sister's coos.

"I told you I was coming."

"Yeah, you've said that for three weeks."

Blaine sighed, kissing Melody's chubby and rosy cheek. "I told my boss I couldn't do the Fridays anymore. He said he'd find someone else to do them."

" _Fine_."

Blaine got the trademark _fine_? Uh oh, maybe he really was in so much trouble that holding an adorable baby wouldn't get him of it.

He sighed again and smiled at Melody. "You've gotten so big, girlie."

She looked at the door and shrieked again as her father walked into the bedroom, not even bothering to knock on the door.

"Who's got daddy's girl?" he asked, coming over. "Has Blaine stolen you away?"

"Yep. We're taking her home to Cinci with us." Blaine laughed.

"I know you like Blaine, Mellie, but I don't know that you should be around him. I think he's a bad influence. He doesn't seem to think he has to follow the family _rules_. And that's very bad."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Blaine exclaimed. He really hadn't thought anyone would even notice or care, but apparently they had—seeing as _everyone_ had made sure to comment about it. It did make him feel guilty, but it also made him secretly very happy that his absence had been noticed—that Kurt's family wanted him there. It was so different from everything he was used to, but he was slowly getting used to it.

"Better not." Burt grunted, pointing a finger at him. "Or we'll make you both come back home and live here. Does the idea of driving eight hours a day every day sound appealing to you, kiddo?"

"Not so much." Blaine laughed, bending down and kissing the top of Melody's head. He wiggled her a bit as she stared at him, a big grin plastered on her face. "Aw, she's so cute!"

"No, she's rotten." Burt grinned and scooped her up. "Daddy's gonna get you some mashed sweet potatoes and then we'll get you all cleaned up. Hopefully Kurt won't kill Blaine before dinner."

Kurt rolled his eyes as his father left and then sighed softly.

"Aw, Kurt, come on…" Blaine sighed and scooted closer to him, so their arms were touching. "Don't be that way. I'm here now. And we have all weekend to spend together."

"Actually, we have all weekend to spend on homework."

Blaine rested his head on Kurt's chest, draping an arm around him. He didn't know what to say, so he remained silent.

Kurt ran his fingers through his curly hair, lips pursed together. He was still mad, but the fact that he wasn't sighing or huffing meant that he was less angry than before. "It's weird, being back in this room."

"Hmm, I don't know." Blaine shrugged, making himself more comfortable. He tilted his head up, stuck his lower lip out in an adorable pout, and attempted to make puppy dog eyes. "Are you done being mad at me yet?"

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "Stop being cute. It makes it hard to be upset."

Blaine leaned up, kissing Kurt's cheek. "I'm always cute."

"Says who?"

"Only everybody." This time Blaine rolled his eyes, and scoffed.

"If ever anybody has any doubt your gay, Blaine, all they need to do is see you do that."

Blaine just laughed, kissing his cheek again. "Was it cute?"

"No. I'm still mad at you."

Blaine kissed his other cheek. "How about now?"

"Still mad." Kurt said, but it was very obvious he was fighting a smile.

"How about _now_?" Blaine kissed his nose.

"Yes, Blaine."

Blaine pressed their lips together, placing his hands on either side of Kurt's face to keep him in place. After several seconds he pulled away. " _Now?"_

"Oh God, Blaine, shut up." The younger boy laughed, wrapping his arms around Blaine and giving him a big squeeze. "You're so hard to handle sometimes."

Blaine grinned goofily at him, leaning back up to kiss his cheek again.

"Oh, are you two doing that?" Finn asked from the doorway. "Never mind. I'll come back."

"No, we're not doing _that_. We have self control enough to not go at it when we're left in a room alone for ten minutes." Kurt sighed, ruffling Blaine's hair one last time and then sitting up straight. "What did you want?"

"Finally got Blaine's birthday present. Well, you know. The season tickets." Finn said, reaching into his pocket and pulling several tickets out. "Just in time for the season."

"Thanks, Finn!" Blaine said happily, eagerly reaching for them. "I can't wait!"

"Thank god Dad is going with you and not me." Kurt mumbled. To him, it was just one more day of the week that he wouldn't get to see his boyfriend. "I was hoping you three had forgotten about those."

"As if." Blaine scoffed again, placing the tickets in a neat pile on Kurt's bedside table. "The first game is Saturday?"

"You bet." Finn grinned, almost sheepishly. "I'm playing."

"That's awesome, Finn! Are you all any good this season? 'Cause you better be. We were slaughtered last season."

"We could be better, we—."

"Oh God. I had to spend my entire childhood listening to this. Am I really going to have to hear it until I die?" Kurt interrupted, standing.

"I love football." Was Blaine's only response.

"I know, honey. I'm going to go and help Carole set up for dinner."

"What he means is he's going to go steal Melon Head while mom sets up for dinner." Finn declared as Kurt left the room.

" _Her name is Melody!"_ Kurt called from the hall.

"Really, Finn? You really are going to call her Melon Head on a daily basis so she'll think it's her name?" Blaine laughed, shaking his head after blinking several times at his boyfriend's older stepbrother. He adored Finn, he really did. But some of the things the boy did were questionable.

"I don't see what's so wrong with it." Finn shrugged. "Who wouldn't want a name like Melon Head?"

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the almost missed Friday Night Dinner, but things had not looked up that much for the boys. They were still knee deep in sketches and readings. They were still constantly bickering over who would do what chore. And they still missed spending time together. But sometimes, like now, it was just hard.

"I don't have time, Blaine."

Blaine crawled onto the couch and into Kurt's lap, kissing down his boyfriend's neck. It was chilly outside and he could practically feel the heat radiating off of the younger boy's body. This was particularly enjoyable because Blaine had just gotten home from a long day of classes, the heater in his car wasn't working as well as he would have liked it to (of course, something else to go wrong), and Blaine was just short of freezing.

"I don't have time, Blaine." Kurt repeated, a little louder. It was useless, though. Blaine wasn't giving in _that_ easy. He was too cold and deprived. All he wanted was snuggles, and perhaps a make out session too. Was that really such a large request? He didn't think so.

"Always time for love." The older boy murmured into Kurt's soft, pale skin.

"I'll have to love you from afar then. I've got to have the sketch done. You know it's Azari's class and that's the only one that the stupid Davis kid and I are tied in."

"What?" Blaine looked up from his younger boyfriend's neck, eyebrow raised. He tried to not be a little annoyed that Kurt was essentially trying to reject him when five days ago it was Kurt pestering _him_ for sex while Blaine had actually been working on something that was due the next day. Blaine knew for a fact that Kurt didn't have any assignments due the next day. He'd checked his planner the night before.

"Alec." Kurt said impatiently. "You know? Public enemy number one?"

"So he's the favorite in two classes. You're the favorite in two as well. Get over it." Blaine shrugged and returned his lips to his boyfriend's neck. He didn't see the big deal if someone was better than Kurt in _two classes_. There were probably people better than him in every single class that he was taking at UK and it didn't bother him one bit. As long as his grades were good, Blaine didn't care what other people got.

Kurt gave an annoyed sigh, the one he did when Blaine 'just didn't get _it_ '. There was apparently a lot Blaine didn't get, something that came up in a lot of their recent discussions. "No. Azari's fashion illustration class is the _only_ one that we're neck and neck in, Blaine. I am going to do this project better if it kills me."

"No death. Just kisses. Give me kisses." Blaine whined, well aware he probably sounded like a whiny teenager. How could you date a human being as beautiful as Kurt Hummel and _not_ want to kiss him though? That was like a human not wanting air.

"Blaine, you don't understand. He's the best in Figure Drawing and 3D Design. I'm the best in Patterns and Drawing 1. _I've got to be the best in Fashion Illustration_. We're in five classes together. I _have_ to be the best."

"But you _are_ the best, babe. Your sketches are amazing, your grades are amazing… _you're_ amazing. Amazing and gorgeous. That makes you better by default."

"Just—a few more lines, I promise, and we'll spend time together or something. Go read a book." Kurt muttered distractedly, trying to push Blaine off of him.

" _Or something?_ Fine." Blaine rolled off, scowling. If he'd thought getting sex in Lima was hard, getting sex in Cincinnati lately was twice as hard. Maybe Kurt just didn't like sex anymore and needed to look for excuses. Or maybe Kurt was _really_ still mad at him for almost missing Friday Night Dinner two weeks ago. He stood, tugged off his old Dalton hoodie and shot Kurt a look. "I'm beginning to think you need to have a relationship with that sketchbook, since it's the only thing you ever touch lately."

"Excuse me?" Kurt scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring up at his boyfriend—but he looked like he felt guiltier more than anything, really.

"Oh, you heard me, pretty thing." Blaine's expression softened and he leaned over, kissing the top of the younger boy's head.

"You think I'm pretty?" Kurt said, intentionally making his voice higher. He couldn't hide how his lips curved upward in a small smile. Teasing or not, it always gave him butterflies when Blaine called him pretty or beautiful. He didn't feel he was either of those things, but it was nice to hear them from someone as gorgeous as his boyfriend.

"Nah. I just tell you you're beautiful every morning because I want in your pants. Not that I'm getting there very much since you started classes. At least July and the beginning of August was fun." The older boy shrugged, smirking. He then added, "Whatcha gonna do about it, Hummel?"

"Tell my daddy."

"Uh oh, we don't want that. He might pull out a shot gun on me." Blaine carefully picked Kurt's sketchbook up and sat it down, just out of his reach. He made sure to stand in front of it, too, so Kurt wouldn't have the opportunity to dive for it (the boy was fast) and run off. He'd learned his lesson after last time. "It's Tuesday. Your Fashion Illustration class is Thursday. We are going to go to our room and spend some time together, alright? Besides, the American Idol auditions are coming on soon and you know I love those. Nothing is more fun than making fun of people who think they can sing but can't."

"But—" Kurt said, struggling to reach past Blaine to retrieve his beloved sketchbook.

"But nothing, Hummel. Get that skinny ass up."

"You don't understand."

"I understand that this spending more time together works both ways. I'm not working Fridays anymore and am attempting to take classes less days next semester so we have more nights together. You've got to change a little too. And that means not staying up until two in the morning sketching and then getting up early to go to school. I worry about you only getting four hours of sleep a night and driving that far. _Also_ , your only real break is an hour and a half long. The other breaks are ten minutes between classes."

Kurt pointedly looked away, looking even guiltier.

"Kurt, you're doing too much." Blaine leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Please. If you're going to continue to take so many classes, promise me you'll at least get to bed at a decent hour… Sometimes I think you even forget to eat."

He took Kurt's lack of rebuttal as confirmation. His suspicions had been right. He didn't want Kurt to feel bad or anything. He just wanted Kurt to take care of himself. And he clearly wasn't doing that. Blaine was getting worried. He had even debated talking to Burt, but knew that would probably result in a huge argument. Frankly, they both had too much going on to be in the middle of an argument too.

He really was getting worried, though. He didn't trust Kurt driving on so little sleep. And if he was right, and it looked like he was… not eating properly only made his driving on so little sleep much worse. He didn't want Kurt passing out in the car and killing himself.

Maybe he _did_ need to talk to Burt. But maybe he needed to try talking to Kurt a little more himself first. He sat back down next to Kurt, grabbing his soft hand in his own calloused ones. "That's not good, Kurt. You've got to stay healthy. You know the stress alone can—."

"I hate when you do this. I get it enough from Dad, alright?" His younger boyfriend said impatiently.

"But you're taking on too much. That's why your Dad keeps trying to talk to you and check on you. You're going to crash and burn if you don't give yourself a break every once in a while." The older boy sat on the couch next to him, sighing softly. Why was Kurt so stubborn? "We just don't want you to overdo it."

"Why can't you all trust me to know what I can handle? I'm nineteen years old, not four."

"Because, my love, you are the type of person who doesn't know they can't handle something until it's well past the point of not being able to handle it."

This time, Kurt let out a soft sigh and leaned against Blaine. "I guess you're right. But there's just so much to do and so little time."

Blaine blinked at him for several seconds, surprised he'd agreed. "Welcome to the life of a college student." He mumbled finally, arms wrapping around him. "You'll find your balance eventually. You just need to take care of yourself while you find it. And once you get into the part where you can use your tablet, it'll be easier, right?"

"They say it will… but I don't get how it would. I feel like it'll be harder." The smaller boy shrugged a bit. "I've never been so ready for Thanksgiving in my life. A Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of no school will be _amazing_ … it's too bad my winter break is short. It's going to be completely unfair to get up and you stay at home, in bed, all day for two more weeks."

"I would say I'm sorry I get to sleep in more, but I'm not. So I won't say it." Blaine said cheerfully, messing up Kurt's hair. "I am sorry for you, though."

Kurt rolled his eyes and swatted his arm. "Jerk."

"Brat."

"Attention whore."

"Bitch."

"Too far, Blaine Anderson."

"Oh, come on. Everyone knows you can be a bitch. You say it yourself." Blaine pointed out, making his hair stand up straight and grinning adorably.

"I thought we'd moved past this." Kurt sighed, settling against Blaine and making himself comfortable.

"'M never moving past this. It's far too amusing. I just haven't had you still long enough to do it in forever."

The two sat in a comfortable silence, Blaine running his fingers through Kurt's untidy hair and humming Teenage Dream. Kurt's hand was rested on Blaine's side and he slid his fingers underneath Blaine's shirt, stroking the soft skin. Blaine gasped quietly because he hadn't been expecting that, but he quickly scooted even closer to his boyfriend. Kurt initially smiled at Blaine's gasp, but the smile grew when he snuggled right up.

He tried to focus on how good Kurt's cool fingers felt on his skin, but it was hard because he could tell that something was bothering Kurt. Eventually Kurt's smile turned into a small frown and Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position. "What's wrong, Kurt? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine… I just don't want to mess this up." The younger boy finally mumbled, looking up from Blaine's waist.

"Mess what up?" Blaine asked, looking him in the eyes.

"School. It's so expensive and if I'm not _the best…_ then it's all for nothing. If I'm not the best, I won't get noticed and no one will take me on. And my grandpa will be right. He wanted me to go to a regular college… This was too much of a risk. God, what if I don't make it?" Kurt covered his face. "Oh God."

"You're going to make it." His boyfriend laughed. "I promise. Just like I'm going to make it into law school. Everything will work out."

"Not if I'm not the best." Kurt pushed himself into a sitting position also, because he had still been leaning against his boyfriend. "If I'm not the best, this was all for nothing. Nothing. I hope Alec drives off of a cliff and into a cloud and it carries him to another dimension or something. I'd never wish death on a person, but I'd like for him to safely disappear."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Maybe some healthy competition will do you good. Did you ever think about that?"

"It's not healthy. He's an asshole. He's just _trying_ to be better than me. And he tries to be all friendly and cheerful. I see through it, though. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You can't try to outdo Kurt Hummel. Oh no, you can't."

Blaine just rolled his hazel eyes again, shaking his head. "Or maybe he's actually a nice person just like you? Maybe you two could even be friends?"

"No." Kurt said instantly and stubbornly. "The day I'm nice to him without mentally picturing pushing him and his perfect sketches off a cliff is the day that hell freezes over."

"Alright, alright. Come on, though. I think if you get more than four hours of sleep tonight, you'll have a better outlook on life tomorrow."

Kurt stood, muttering something Blaine couldn't quite make out. He was pretty sure he heard the name "Dr. Phil" though. If he'd had the energy, he would have pointed out that Dr. Phil technically was a fraud. But any time the boys got into a discussion like that it required proof and Blaine was _way_ too lazy to go and get his laptop off of the kitchen table to prove his case. It was much easier to keep his mouth shut.

"You know…" the younger boy said thoughtfully. "We've been living together alone now for about… five months."

"Dude, that's almost half a year. It doesn't feel like it's been that long. What is this madness?" Blaine stood, linking hands with Kurt and making his way into their bedroom.

Kurt's blue eyes widened in horror. "Soon we'll be our parents' ages. Oh, God. I have to go moisturize, like, right now. I haven't in days. And you need to stop eating junk food unless you want to be the size of a house."

"If by _soon_ you mean twenty years." Blaine laughed loudly. He quickly changed into his pajamas and hopped into bed, tucking his feet under him and watching Kurt get his skin care products out. "Hey, Kurt?"

"Hmm?" Kurt asked, not looking up.

Blaine hesitated and bit his lip. "I was serious. What I meant about you taking too much on and not taking care of yourself… I don't want you to wind up in the hospital again. And I don't want you passing out driving from lack of sleep and food, alright? You just can't _do_ that to yourself. You say me eating fast food is unhealthy? Do you know what regularly skipping meals does to your body?"

"It's not that I'm skipping meals. Sometimes I just run out of time."

Blaine shook his head, covering his face. "Kurt, come on. Please. Do I need to buy you Lunchables or something? Or make you sandwiches? And cut my hours so I can be home when you get here with food ready? Or maybe I'll just speed to get home first, since you get home about a half an hour before me."

"Don't do this, Blaine. Don't make this into something bigger than it is."

"Okay. It _is_ a big deal." Blaine's voice unintentionally rose a bit and he lowered it. "If _I_ did that, it wouldn't be healthy still… but it would be more okay. _I_ didn't spend however many weeks in the hospital after almost dying. Your body is still—."

"I wish everyone would stop pretending I'm such fragile little flower that's going to break if you walk by it too fast! I'm _fine_ , Blaine! You, dad, and Carole need to stop this!" Kurt exclaimed.

"You're not fine. You've lost some weight." Blaine pointed out. He could sense this going no where good. And fast.

"I had _gained_ weight from the medicine."

"Fine." Blaine laid down and rolled to face the other way. "Suit yourself. But don't expect me to sit by your side at the hospital and drop out again when you hurt yourself. You can find someone else to take care of you."

Kurt made a noise that was somewhere between a scoff and a sigh, tossing his bottle of moisturizer down. "I'm sick of everyone treating me like a baby!"

"Then grow up and stop acting like one." Blaine rolled back around to face him, glaring. "If you won't take care of yourself, then someone has to do it for you. I'm beginning to think that Carole was right and that you should have taken a year off of school to…" he trailed off. He was not going to say 'adjust' because any time that word was brought up… the outcome wasn't good. Because apparently Kurt was _adjusting_ just fine and it wasn't anyone else's business anyway, alright?

"So did you want to spend time or just argue with me?" Kurt muttered. "Was this your plan all along? Pull me away from work to fuss at me?"

"I want you to understand that _you're doing too much_. You quit Express because you understood that. Why can't you understand this? I'd rather you work at Express, sleep, and eat than watch you do this to your body!"

"I'm not _doing_ anything to my body, Blaine! God!" Kurt threw his hands into the air.

"You've been getting four hours of sleep a night, Kurt, and you basically admitted to skipping meals. That is _doing something_ to _your body_. And it's making me worry about you. A lot."

"If you're so worried, clean up more so I don't have to do all the cleaning too!"

"I do the dishes every single _day_."

"I'm sleeping on the couch." Kurt said, grabbing his pillow off the bed.

"Take your damn dog with you then." Blaine glared. "Maybe between both of you, there'll almost be a whole mature living being in the room."

Kurt left the room, grabbing his sleeping dog off of the edge of the bed and muttering, "He thinks he's clever."

Blaine sighed, pulling the pillow over his head. Kurt had never slept on the couch before. Never. He hadn't slept without Kurt at his side in months. How on Earth was he supposed to get to sleep _now_?

* * *

"Kreacher, daddy's mad at me!" Blaine loudly whispered as he made his way into the house the next evening after school, carrying a cheesecake. "This will either make him really happy or more mad. Either way, _I'm_ getting cheesecake tonight and _you're_ not."

Kreacher sat on the floor and tilted his head side ways. When Blaine walked closer, he nuzzled his leg.

"Oh, you act nice when I've got num nums. Oh God, what has Kurt _done_ to me? Did I just say num nums? Let's keep this to ourselves, okay?" Blaine muttered, bending down and patting Kreacher's head with his free hand.

Kreacher balanced himself on his hind legs, tongue hanging out.

"No. Not for Kreacher. For Kurt and Blaine. Go find some socks to steal or something. Just don't chew on Kurt's shoes. He'll find a way to blame it on me."

Kurt chose that moment to walk in, of course, and scowled.

"Oh, crap. You would come in right then, wouldn't you?"

"I would." Kurt nodded, arms crossing over his chest. He didn't look _too_ mad though, which had to be a good sign.

" _I brought you something you'll enjoy_." The older boy sang, holding up the white box.

"What is it?" the younger boy sighed, but his blue eyes lit up as he surveyed the box.

"Hmm, what do you think it is?" Blaine said, trying to ignore Kreacher who was now on his hind legs, head titled, and pawing at his leg.

"Knowing you, it could be about anything." Kurt moved forward, trying to take the box.

"Ah-ah-ah. Take a guess." The older boy smirked.

"I don't suppose it's an index card reading 'You may listen to Lady Gaga whenever you'd like, xo, Blaine'?" Kurt joked.

"I'm not feeling _that_ generous. Kreacher, stop it!"

"Kreacher, sit down." His younger boyfriend spoke in a very firm voice.

Kreacher immediately sat down and tilted his head, eyes on the box. He then inched closer, still sitting, and began nudging Blaine's foot.

"Oh my God, this dog." Blaine moaned. "Never again, Kurt. We're never owning another dog again."

"There is nothing wrong with my dog." Kurt said impatiently. "He just wants whatever is in the box."

"Yes, well, he can't _have it_." Blaine said, sending several glares in Kreacher's general direction.

Kreacher responded by tilting his head in the other direction and licking Blaine's shoe.

"See? He does like you."

"No. He likes what's in this box." The older boy said impatiently, moving forward a few steps. Kreacher just scooted along after him, still _technically_ sitting. Clearly the dog had spent too much time with Kurt, because he was turning into a smart ass. "Incessant dog! Fine! You can have some, alright? Just stop that!"

"Some _what_?" Kurt bounced a bit, anger forgotten. "What'd you get me, Blaine? What'd you get me?"

Blaine held out the box. "It's a peace offering."

"I like peace offerings. The last time you gave me a peace offering you didn't watch ESPN for two weeks. Those were two very good weeks." Kurt said eagerly, opening the lid. "Oh God, Blaine, I love you. You gorgeous, perfect man."

"Why, thank you." Blaine grinned and took the box back. "But _first,_ there are conditions."

"Conditions?" Kurt asked, eyes remaining on the cheesecake. It was chocolate. He _loved_ chocolate cheesecake. It was his absolute favorite. And it was expensive too. "What conditions?"

"Three meals a day, Kurt. And at _least_ six hours of sleep."

"I don't think that's possible, Blaine. You haven't seen my agenda." The younger boy said, almost pitifully.

Seeing that look on Kurt's face made Blaine's stomach knot up and he sighed a bit before speaking softly. "We'll go through the agenda together and come up with some ideas to make sure it happens, okay? We'll make it work."

"I mean, we can try but… I don't see how it's possible." Kurt mumbled.

"Kurt… this is only the first semester. I hate to say this but… are you sure you can handle this?" Blaine looked into his eyes. "Because if you can't, there are other options. Okay? Other schools, other cities… Look, we'll do what we have to do. There's no sense in killing ourselves over this."

"I just… I'm just tired." Kurt admitted. "I feel like I'd be better at getting stuff done if I wasn't so tired, but I am _so_ exhausted. I just… I just don't know how to…"

Blaine took his hand and led him into the kitchen. "Sit down."

Kurt slumped into the chair, laying his head on the table. Two seconds later a huge slice of cheesecake was placed in front of him.

Kreacher pranced into the room, tail sticking straight up. He came to a stop at their feet and looked between the two expectantly.

Blaine cut off a very small piece and sat it on the floor. He had found out the hard way not to give Kreacher bigger slices last time. The dog loved it a little too much. He didn't get sick to his stomach. No, he just got very hyper. Technically, he hadn't even _given_ Kreacher the cheesecake last time. The dog had taken it upon himself to steal it when Blaine went to the bathroom. (They were still trying to figure out how he'd managed to get onto the table.) "You better eat it all too, you lunatic."

Kreacher began eating his small slice of cheesecake hungrily. Kurt pushed himself back up into a sitting position and scooted his chair closer to the table, nibbling on his cheesecake.

"So… you're not mad at me, right? Because I totally drove like a maniac to get back home before they closed. And you know me. I don't speed." Blaine flashed Kurt a grin. "C'mon, you can't stay mad at me after I brought you _this_. It's heavenly, if I'm remembering what you said last time correctly."

"You remember correctly." Kurt laughed quietly, forcing a smile. "I just don't want you to be mad at me… I'm not intentionally… doing this stuff, you know? Sometimes I get in the moment and I don't _think_ to eat or go to sleep. It's not that I'm trying to put myself in the position to get sick again… because I don't want to get sick again… I never want to be in a hospital again."

Blaine reached over and placed his hand over Kurt's, much like he did before their first kiss. "I know. That's why tonight we're going to look your agenda over and… we'll figure something out. And if we can't work it out this semester, next semester we'll do something else. We'll make it work."

"Do you really think I should have taken a break?" he mumbled, looking down.

"I think that was a bit of anger talking." Blaine admitted. "I just think you have a lot going on at once and that we're both sucking at time management and communication right now."

"We were doing better." Kurt looked back up. "We're both just busy. It's not either of our faults…"

"I haven't been helping. I didn't know my working Fridays was bothering you so much…"

"And I didn't know you were so worried about me. Or feeling sex deprived." He smirked a bit. "Like being back at home, isn't it?"

"No." Blaine rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "We had more sex then."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, you're right. But I'm not going to let you schedule in a day for us to have sex, Blaine Warbler. I'm not that old."

Blaine buried his face in his hand and let out a moan. Kurt wasn't sure if it was over Blaine _Warbler_ or sex scheduling, but he laughed either way and reached over to ruffle his boyfriend's curly hair.

"I love you, Blaine." He giggled.

"Love you too." Blaine responded, voice muffled by his hand.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My best friend's dog is a Pomeranian and she eats as much chocolate as she can get her paws on and is always fine after, just hyper. I don't know if it just affects different dogs differently or what, but this is why I have them letting Kreacher eat some of the chocolate cheesecake. We can all just assume that Kreacher falls into the category of dogs that doesn't get sick.


	23. Chapter 23

Blaine Anderson was adorable.

This is what Kurt decided when he entered his house on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to find Blaine curled up on the couch with Kreacher. Blaine was clearly asleep and his soft snores were proof of that fact. Kreacher would wiggle around every once in a while, lick Blaine's cheek, and then fall asleep for a few minutes before waking up and repeating the process. Apparently he was very excited to be getting snuggles from Blaine, who usually said "I don't want you, silly dog" any time Kreacher would climb onto his lap. Or really any time he even entered a room.

Kurt went over towards them, a big smile on his face. Kreacher hopped up and his tail immediately started to wag. Kurt scooped him up. "Did you and Blaine get along today? Yeah? Oh, it's because we know he loves you deep down, doesn't he?"

"Do not." Blaine mumbled sleepily, rolling so he was facing the couch with his back to his younger boyfriend.

"Did you pack yet?" Kurt laughed as Kreacher excitedly licked his face repeatedly. "I missed you too, I missed you too!"

"Mmmh, how'd your presentation go?"

"I'll take that as a no." Kurt laughed again, feeling very cheerful. All presentations were done. He was school free until the next Monday. Soon he would get to see Melody which he was extremely excited about. He had gone out and bought her tons of adorable clothes and he couldn't wait to try them on her. And now the semester was about to come to a close. Finally. This was the first time he would be able to relax since school started back in August and in less than four weeks he would have six weeks to relax without a care in the world—well unless you counted whether or not he and Blaine would have morning sex, night sex, or both sex as a care. Why wouldn't he be cheerful? "And it went really well. I got the highest grade in Fashion Illustration."

"Thank God. Maybe you'll stop obsessing over that class and your rivalry." His boyfriend responded, voice muffled by the couch pillows. He curled up even more and then stretched out, letting out a big yawn.

"I can't believe you skipped classes today."

"I only skipped one. All of my others were cancelled. Would you drive two hours for an hour and a half class that probably got out way early? No. And even _you're_ home early."

Kurt sat on the arm rest and ran his fingers through Blaine's curls, eyes on his boyfriend. "You needed the rest. I'm just kidding. You know that, right?"

"Mhmm, I know." Blaine rolled over and tilted his head back to look at Kurt. "I cleaned today. Just so you know. I'm off the hook for forgetting to do the dishes Sunday."

"And did you pack?"

"I _thought_ really hard about it."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Blaine, you're the laziest person ever."

"I'm not lazy, I'm just exhausted. I'm _never_ taking classes five days a week again. This driving is killing me. And Fridays… oh God. I'm not taking Friday classes ever again. Driving to UK, then home, then to Lima, then home? Do you know how much that _costs_? Do you know how many _hours_ that is? I swear, sometimes my leg will twitch in the middle of the night on Fridays from driving so much." Blaine complained, sitting up straight. "I don't know what I was _thinking_. You told me and I should have listened."

"One day you'll discover I'm always right." Kurt said happily.

Blaine pouted a bit and then nuzzled Kurt's hand. "When are we leaving?"

Kurt leaned forward, kissing Blaine's cheek. "I thought we would leave tonight… but if you want to wait until tomorrow we can."

"Aw, I hear that disappointment. We can go tonight." Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek as well and stood up.

Kurt grinned. "I can't wait to see Melody! I feel like I haven't seen her in weeks."

Blaine stood and tugged Kurt up, leading him to the bedroom. "It's only been a few days. We stayed the night Friday night, remember? You saw her on Saturday."

"She's just gotten so pudgy. I want to snuggle her constantly. And I love her hair. It's so pretty. She's going to be gorgeous when she's older."

"You're excited for winter break, aren't you?" Blaine pulled out his backpack and began folding sweaters to neatly place in it. "You'll probably hold her the full six weeks."

"I'm very excited now that I realize my winter break is longer than I thought it was." Kurt sat on the bed, next to his already packed bag. "But honestly, why does CCAD even _have_ sessions that short? What could you really do in that short of time? It gives me a headache just _thinking_ about how stressful those classes would be."

His boyfriend shrugged and looked down as Kreacher pranced in, frowning. "You touch my phone charger, dog, and I'm going to hurt you."

The dog crouched against the ground, ears lowering, and stared up at Blaine. He glanced at Kurt very quickly, to make sure Kurt was paying attention, and let out a low whimper.

"Don't be mean to my sweet baby." Kurt rolled his eyes, patting the spot beside him. Kreacher excitedly hopped up, licked Kurt's face, and then began running in circles all over the bed—this included jumping into Blaine's bag repeatedly, as if he was trying to catch something in it and then leaping back out dramatically.

"You've spoiled this dog rotten, Kurt. Did you just see that? He was totally looking to make sure you were paying attention because he _wanted_ me to get into trouble. If you get in that bag one more time, Kreacher, I'm zipping you in it." Blaine said, waving his finger at the dog.

"He's not that small anymore, Blaine." Kurt grabbed his dog and began petting him to calm him down. "You love him. You just won't admit it. I think you two enjoy your arguments. You bond over them."

"I do not _argue_ with a dog." His boyfriend scoffed.

"You do so. You insult him, he growls and goes and eats your things. And sometimes, I think you deserve it."

The older boy just rolled his eyes. "Just for that I'm not bringing any cardigans."

"But I _love_ you in cardigans." Kurt pouted, moving into a laying position and sitting Kreacher on his stomach. "Especially the green one… and the white and black striped one… and the blue one…"

"Yes, I know. You list them off in that order every time we discuss this. I still miss my red one." Blaine neatly folded his green cardigan and set it in the bag, despite telling Kurt he wasn't going to bring any one minute ago. "What are you wearing to Thanksgiving dinner?"

"I don't know. Grandpa is trying to talk Grandma into making it pajamas mandatory." Kurt snorted. "That's just because he'll probably be hung over from a party tomorrow, though."

"What does he do? Do I need to be nervous? Do I need to—." His boyfriend paled a bit¸ eyes widening. Clearly he'd forgotten he would be meeting a new Hummel. This was something that always made him nervous.

"Relax." Kurt laughed. "If my dad likes you, my grandpa will _love_ you. He's very nice, he's funny, and he's smart. He's going to love you solely based on the fact that you go to UK. Actually, he probably already loves you."

"But your grandmother said he was senile."

"Only to family members." Kurt waved his hand in the air. "He owns a private business and parties with clients a lot. He's very friendly, always laughs and smiles. He's never met a person he hasn't liked. At least not in _my_ lifetime."

"But he didn't take your sister coming out well."

Kurt shrugged. "I think that was a shock thing. He moved on. And he _adores_ Taylor. He won't treat you any differently and he won't act like he likes you when he doesn't. You have nothing to worry about, Blaine. Just be yourself. It's really much scarier meeting Grammy than Grandpa. He'll love you."

Blaine let out a huge relieved sigh, color returning to his face. "Good."

"Aw, you're nervous to meet my grandfather. That's cute. Were you nervous to meet my dad?"

His boyfriend's hazel eyes widened again and he looked at Kurt. " _Yes_. Terrified, okay? And he kept giving me this look. This _I know you're more than friends_ look."

"But we were just friends when you met him." Kurt pointed out.

"I was still terrified. Your dad is scary, Kurt. Oh my God, I was so scared. I wasn't until I saw him and… just… scary." Blaine was speaking fast, clearly becoming flustered again at the memory of meeting Kurt's family.

"And now he loves you." Kurt leaned up and kissed him. Then he added, "And my dad _tried_ to intimidate you. Just so you know. But Grandpa won't do that. He will probably want to know all about you, though, so be prepared. It's too bad Taylor won't be there, she'd stay with you and make quirky responses up for you."

"Have you even talked to her? Paige, I mean?"

"No." Kurt admitted, looking down. "I know Taylor told me to call but… I just… didn't."

"Why not?" The older boy questioned, moving across the room and pulling several pairs of jeans out of their closet.

"I guess I'm still mad at her… she was rude to you, she tried to come between Dad and I… and she hurt Taylor."

"Taylor's the one that set the ultimatum."

Kurt looked back up at him, shocked. "That doesn't _matter_. She proposed to Aunt Paige and Paige said _no_. After, like, twenty years."

His boyfriend spoke in a very calm voice. "I'm not saying I've picked a side or anything... Frankly, I don't want to be involved in any discussion about this after the last time I saw her and what this whole thing caused between us. I still don't think you're over that. But I do think you need to realize there are two sides to this, and two grown people made the decision together. I know it's upsetting… "

"It's not just that, either." Kurt pursed his lips together. He tried to not think about his aunt a lot, because it always either made him angry or upset. He didn't know how to say what he felt. It was more than being mad at her for the fight and everything that stemmed from it.

No. He was mostly upset about everything _before_ the fight. Now that he knew his aunt had been jealous of his relationship with his dad… it changed his way of thinking about his entire relationship with _her_.

He loved Paige. He really did. But he was beginning to realize that it was Taylor he had the emotional bond with. Paige was a good aunt—she called him, bought him gifts, took him places. Taylor, however, was _close_ to him. Taylor was the one that picked him up after school when he was thirteen, took him out to a nice restaurant, and asked him if he was gay. Just asked, as if it was nothing. She was also the one that moved to hug him when he started to cry, the one that told him it was okay, the one that assured him he would be happy. Taylor offered to help him tell Burt and when Kurt shot that down, she offered to buy books to help him. And offered to introduce Kurt to some of her male gay friends who may have been able to understand him a little better. She offered to buy him books about sex. When the bullying started up and got worse, it was Taylor that he would call before he had Blaine—even at three in the morning, she'd sit up with him for hours and just let him vent. And she'd never once made a complaint. Taylor was his _aunt_.

Paige was his aunt but she would never be as close to Kurt as Taylor was. It hurt to realize that he probably wasn't so close to Paige for the sheer fact that she was jealous of him. He had never realized this before. But now it was much clearer. Why hadn't Paige called _him_? She was the aunt, the more mature one, the "adult." Shouldn't she have reached out to Kurt? Taylor had called Kurt. Taylor had met Kurt for dinner to talk things over.

"I just haven't felt like talking to her about it yet is all." Kurt shrugged. "It's not like she's talked to me either, you know?"

Blaine gave him a sad sort of smile. "I'll be done packing soon, alright? Which car do you want to take?"

"It doesn't matter really. I can drive if you don't want to." The younger boy shrugged again.

"I'll drive. I don't feel like having any roadside anxiety attacks so close to a holiday." The older boy joked.

Kurt just pulled a face and went into the bathroom, gathering up all of Blaine's stuff and tossing it into a smaller bag to move things along. It was only a matter of time before Blaine found some distraction (most likely it would be junk food or television related) and Kurt wanted to get there before Melody was put down for a nap. Why go so early for anything but playing with his little sister? Although once Burt was home, all attention would be on him. This was because, as Carole had told Blaine and Kurt on the phone the other day, Melody had severe separation anxiety when it came to her father. Before Burt was home from work she was absolutely fine. But as soon as she saw her father she would wail helplessly anytime he would leave the room. Kurt honestly didn't blame her, because they had the greatest father in the world in his biased opinion.

"You're trying to rush me." Blaine pouted, putting his phone charger into his bag. "I'm on to you, Mr. Hummel."

"Alright, alright, I am." Kurt heaved a big sigh. "But if we don't hurry she'll be napping."

"Sometimes I think the only reason you go home anymore is to see the baby." Blaine laughed, finally putting the smaller bag Kurt held out into his backpack and zipping it up. "Okay, okay. You get the demon child and we'll go."

Kurt scooped his bag up and his dog, a big grin on his face. "We get to go see Melody! We get to go see Melody! She's going to just _love_ you, Kreacher!"

Blaine rolled his eyes as he locked up the house behind his boyfriend. Apparently any conversation they had in the car would not be very intelligent, as always when Kreacher was in the car. As long as they didn't listen to Lady Gaga, though, Blaine would deal.

* * *

"Where's my sister?" Kurt demanded two and a half hours later after rushing into his house and tugging off his jacket. There were not many things that would make him simply throw his designer coat on the back of a chair without hesitation, but clearly Melody was one of them.

"Oh, hello dear." Carole said, leaving the kitchen and coming into the living room. She was holding a very cranky looking Melody in her arms and looked absolutely exhausted. She handed the five month baby over to her stepson as she spoke. "She's got a bit of a cold so she's been very fussy all day."

Kurt pressed a kiss to Melody's rosier-than-normal cheek and snuggled her. She screwed her face up, stuck her lip out, and began to whine. Usually whenever Kurt held her she would be all smiles and giggles, because Kurt was one of her favorite people.

"Oh, oh, let me see her." Carole sighed, taking her daughter back immediately. She looked extremely stressed out and Kurt took in the dark circles under her eyes and her messy hair, feeling bad for her. "I haven't even started dinner yet, boys. I'm sorry. I've been waiting for Burt to get home so he could keep up with her and Finn just called to say he won't even be able to make it home tonight and it's just been a long day."

"Don't even worry." Kurt said instantly, taking Melody back and forcing the whining baby into his boyfriend's arms. "Blaine will take care of the baby and I'll take care of dinner. _You_ go and take a nap."

"But she's really very fussy and I don't think that—oh."

Melody had snuggled against Blaine, head rested on his chest, and fallen asleep.

"I have been trying to get her to nap all day. How did you _do_ that?" Carole demanded. "How did you do that, Blaine?"

Kurt looked at his boyfriend fondly. "We think it's a gene mutation or something. Blaine's the first of the next-generation human being. They're all going to be perfect."

Blaine just rolled his eyes, resituating the sleeping baby. "I'm not _perfect_."

"Just pretty damn close to it." Kurt rolled his own eyes and then put his hands on his hips. "Upstairs, Carole. I don't want to see you down for another hour at _least_."

"I don't need a nap, really." Carole sighed, attempting to take her sleeping daughter from Blaine. Melody's lip began to tremble and her little fists clenched, though, so Carole immediately relented. "Okay, okay, okay. Fine. Blaine, do you care to—."

"Nope." Blaine said cheerfully, easing himself down onto the couch. "I'm more than happy to watch Mellie."

"Upstairs." Kurt repeated, nodding his head towards the stairs.

"But its your boys' breaks. I was going to make dinner and—."

"Carole, go relax. Blaine will be perfectly fine with Melody and I've been cooking dinner since I was eleven. I enjoy cooking and Blaine enjoys cooing at things that can't answer him, especially bunnies in the pet store. We're fine."

Blaine snorted quietly as Carole leaned over, kissing the top of her stepson's head. "Thanks, hon."

"No problem." Kurt responded honestly, and it really wasn't. He grabbed the remote and turned it to ESPN since Blaine's arms were full and then made his way into the kitchen.

Blaine watched the television for a few minutes, and then looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms. Now that he thought about it, he'd never really been in a room alone with her before. Someone else had always been there in case anything had happened.

"Oh God, if you start crying I'm not going to know what to do. And it might make me cry because you look pitiful. And I catch colds so easily; I bet you anything I'm going to catch what you've got. What do you want to bet? A pacifier, a bib? I really like your purple one with the flowers." He said casually, and then blinked several times. "Have I lost my mind? First I start chatting with Kreacher about num nums and now I'm sitting here talking to you. You're asleep and sick. And only five months old. Maybe I should give you credit, you're _almost_ six months old. I bet if you were five years old and almost six, you'd have corrected me. Oh my God. What is _wrong_ with me?"

Melody just snuggled into his chest, making herself more comfortable.

Blaine touched her tiny, soft hand with his finger. "Aw, you're so tiny. I'm sorry people call you Melon Head. If it makes you feel any better, I was called Poodle Head all throughout elementary school... and half of middle school."

Her nose scrunched up a bit, but she of course didn't respond. She just slept on, quite content—as content as she could be while sick a least.

"I'm sorry you don't feel good. Do you think your dad would mind if we leave Kreacher here and take you home in his place? I like you an awful lot." He continued, still whispering. He bit his lip and stared down at her, almost nervously. He was holding a _baby_. He had held babies before, of course. But never one nearly as cute as Melody. And holding babies before hadn't made him think of _wanting_ babies himself and now it sort of did. But he was way too young to be thinking about _that_.

There was just something about how Kurt was around Melody that made him… well, really want to have kids with him. One day. Far, far down the road. Melody snuggling up to him, all pitiful and yet still adorable, was not helping matters either. He hated that she felt sick, but it was nice to just hold her and be able to look at her precious little face without her squirming all over the place and screeching in his ears. He liked peaceful Melody.

"I think he'd mind just a bit." Kurt said from the doorway, which he was leaning against. He made his way into the room, a small smile on his face. "If you're not even going to watch the TV and just talk at someone who can't answer, you may as well come in the kitchen and talk to me, you know? At least I'll answer."

Blaine looked up quickly, hoping he wasn't blushing. He stood and gave Kurt an almost sheepish smile, following his boyfriend into the kitchen without a word. Honestly, he was a little too embarrassed to speak. Melody fussed a bit at first, but relaxed against him again once he had sat down at the already set table.

"Do you realize that you frequently talk to things that can't answer, Blaine Warbler? Because some people might say that is unhealthy." His younger boyfriend chirped.

"Some people might say it's rude to listen to people's personal conversations also." Blaine retorted, and then added as an after thought, "Anderson. Not Warbler. How would you like it if I called you Kurt McKinley?"

"That's fine. I'll just call you Poodle Head." Kurt gave him an impish smile.

"Hey! You can't _spy_ on me and use what I say against me."

"How do you know Melody didn't tell me what you said, hmm?"

Blaine rolled his eyes and nodded his head downwards at the sleeping infant, who now had some of Blaine's shirt balled in her tiny fist. "I don't think she knows how to _speak_ , Kurt. Most five-almost-six month old infants don't."

"Maybe it's the sibling bond?"

"Maybe you're just a terrible spy." Blaine snorted. "Some things will never change I guess, _new kid_."

Kurt made a rather shocked expression, and then turned back to the stove. Clearly he couldn't think of a clever enough comeback, which Blaine took pride in. It was hard to stump Kurt Hummel.

"I can't believe the first words you ever spoke to me were a _lie_. What does this say for our relationship, huh? What if I had been stupid enough to believe you, hmm?"

"Alright, how was I supposed to know you all had uniforms?" Kurt threw his hands into the air.

"The fact that it was an all boys private school should have been a flag." Blaine said sweetly, eyes bright.

"Next time I'm going to spy on an all boy's private school, I'll keep that in mind." Kurt huffed. "You make a fool of yourself one time and suddenly your boyfriend feels the need to bring it up for the rest of your life."

Blaine giggled a bit, snuggling Melody closer and watching Kurt cook. "I already told you, we thought you were endearing."

Kurt made a clicking noise with his tongue and fell silent, focusing on finishing up dinner which was almost already done.

"You were endearing, you know?" Blaine continued, smiling to himself still. "With your shy smile and those bright blue eyes."

"Stop trying to embarrass me, Blaine."

"I don't need to try. If I leave you be long enough, you'll do it yourself."

Kurt spun back around and pointed an accusing finger at him. "This coming from the boy who used to sing at theme parks?"

"Ouch, Kurt Hummel." Blaine mock cringed. "And it was only one park. King's Island. Because I didn't win the part at Six Flags." The last part came out rather pouty. He was still annoyed that a tall boy with straight blond hair and blue eyes had won the part. "How did I not win that? I easily had the best voice there. They were height biased, Kurt. I'm _adorable_. The people at Six Flag's would have _loved_ me."

"I'm sure they would have, babe." Kurt turned the burner down and joined his boyfriend at the table. "I wonder if Carole's upset she won't get to see Finn until after Thanksgiving."

"Probably." Blaine said softly, passing Kurt his sister very carefully. "He's doing really good on the field, though. He's easily one of the best players on the team. I didn't know he was so good."

"I guess having a real coach makes a lot of difference." Kurt shrugged a bit and touched Melody's cheek with the back of his hand. "I hope she feels better tomorrow."

"I hope you let me have some of the cake you're making tomorrow."

"Absolutely not. It is for Thursday." Kurt said instantly without even looking up from his sister.

Blaine's face fell. "Aw, really?"

"If you're good, I might let you lick the bowl." The younger boy sang.

"This is why I love you, Kurt. Thank you for contributing to my premature death."

"Anytime, dear. Anytime." Kurt said, reaching over as carefully as possible to not jostle his sleeping sister and ruffling his boyfriend's curls. "And I love you too."

Blaine hadn't smiled so big in a very long time.

* * *

"This is _amazing_." Blaine breathed as he stepped out of the car early on Thanksgiving Day, looking at the old fashioned white house in front of him. A large tree in the front was decorated with Christmas ornaments and lights and there was a large blue and white wreath on the black door. The ground was already blanketed with snow and it covered most of the black roof. The house, which was also already decorated for Christmas and had pretty red lights up, was so pretty that it easily could have been out of a Christmas movie.

"Grammy likes Christmas." Kurt laughed, closing his car door. "You had a huge house. Didn't you all ever decorate?"

"Not this early, no. And it never looked as beautiful as this." Blaine was still looking up at the house, in awe. "We didn't even put up a tree until the twenty third."

"Of November? That's not bad!"

"December." Blaine corrected, squeezing Kurt's warm hand that had slid into his.

"How can you get excited about Christmas without a Christmas tree?" Kurt gasped, blue eyes widening. "Are you serious?"

"That tree is _huge_." Blaine's eyes focused on the decorated tree, not exactly wanting to think about his less than perfect Christmases at home. "And _beautiful_."

"The neighbor's son always decorates it for Grammy and Grandpa." Kurt said, sliding an arm around his boyfriend's waist. "Do you like it?"

"It's amazing." The older boy repeated, focusing on his younger boyfriend.

The front door opened and Burt stuck his head out, grinning. "Better get in here, boys. We've got a surprise for you, Kurt."

"Is it a trip to Disney World for Christmas?" Kurt asked, just as he always asked on Thanksgiving. He tugged on Blaine's arm gently and led him towards the porch. "The inside is probably decorated too."

"No, it's not Disney World." Burt rolled his eyes and shut the screen door, but left the main door open.

"Statistically speaking," Kurt said. "The more I ask, the more likely the answer is to eventually be yes. This makes the fifteenth time I've asked and gotten a 'no' for an answer. I don't even think you're listening to me, Blaine."

Blaine followed Kurt, looking around the property in awe and indeed not listening to a word his boyfriend said. His house and property was huge, but it wasn't beautiful. It was boring and average. This property looked like it was straight out of a movie, it really did.

"Be careful, it's slippery." Kurt said before taking the first step.

"How do you know?" Blaine finally pulled his attention away from the beautiful scenery around him.

"Of course you hear that." The younger boy laughed. "I know because it's always slippery." He kept his arm around Blaine's waist as they stepped up the few stairs to the porch—and it was indeed slippery. "I hope the tree is up!"

"It's not!" Kurt's grandmother called from inside the house as Blaine opened the door. "We got a little distracted! Come on in here, boys!"

Blaine looked at Kurt, almost hesitantly. His shock from the beautifully decorated house wore off and he remembered what was about to happen—he was about to meet Kurt's grandfather. Everyone had told him how nice the man was, but he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He had been the same way about meeting Kurt's aunts and his grandmother—and about twice as bad when it came to meeting Burt and Carole. He'd even been terrified when he first spotted Finn, mainly because he was so freakishly tall and could probably squish Blaine just by looking at him. Meeting everyone else had turned out okay, though, so he had no reason to think this one wouldn't. That still did little to ease his nerves.

"Go on in." Kurt laughed, holding it open for him. "I promise my grandpa won't jump out from behind the door… actually, I really can't promise that."

"Thanks, Kurt. That helps."

Kurt just nudged him forward and into the house. "Grandpa, this is—TAYLOR!" Kurt moved past Blaine and ran towards his aunt, throwing his arms around her in a hug. "Oh my God! What are you doing here?"

Taylor laughed loudly and wrapped her arms around Kurt. "My family is having their dinner late at night, because my sister's going to be late. So Grandpa called and asked me to come."

Blaine looked around the large room. Burt and Carole were sitting on the couch with Melody, who felt much better was wearing a gorgeous brown dress that he _suspected_ Kurt had purchased but hadn't been able to prove. Much of the living room was already decorated for Christmas, which was something completely strange to Blaine. Usually his father would do a little something outside their house and they'd put up there tree mere days before Christmas. There was no inside decorations apart from a tree, though. David's parents always decorated some and Blaine had always loved theirs, but it was nothing compared to _this_. Kurt's grandparent's house was very elegantly decorated—but after meeting Kurt's grandmother three times and knowing how like Kurt she was, Blaine shouldn't have been surprised. The inside of the house was as gorgeous as the outside.

"I am so sorry it's a mess, Blaine." Kurt's grandmother, Annie, said. She was in the corner of the room on the floor sorting through boxes of Christmas ornaments next to a large tree. "It usually isn't, I promise. I was going to finish the tree and get this junk back in the attic, but Paige called to say she _can't make it_. So Andrew of course called Taylor. We all miss her terribly and I knew it would just tickle Kurt to death." As if to make a point, she pointed to Taylor and Kurt who were now curled up in a big chair by the fireplace and giggling over something on Taylor's phone. "And I was right. Oh, those two. We won't get in a word edgewise between them, will we?"

"Probably not." Blaine gave her a small smile. It was hard to focus on her, though, when he was looking around the house.

"We used to have much better decorations." She sighed. "But we stored them in the back of Andrew's office downtown. The office caught fire and we lost a lot. Of course we kept the special ones at home, thank God. The house just never seems to look as good now, though."

"I think it looks amazing. We never did anything like this." Blaine said truthfully.

"Burt, could you go and check on the turkey?" Annie asked, turning her attention to her son.

"Like I know what it's supposed to look like." Burt grunted and stood, heading towards a doorway which Blaine assumed led to the kitchen. "The last meal I made anything like this resulted in nothing edible. Ask Kurt."

As soon as Burt left the room, Melody began to wail. First it started out quiet little whimpers as she stared at the doorway her father walked out of. Then, however, it turned into little cries. And finally tears began to fall and she let out loud helpless wails. Carole tried repositioning her and cooing to distract her, but this did not help. The sobs didn't not soften until Burt walked back into the room, grinning in a silly way, and scooped her up. He began making noises and kissing her cheek, and she instantly fell silent.

"I don't know why that baby is so smitten with you, Burt. But Kurt did the exact same thing. Babies must see something in you the rest of the world doesn't." Annie teased and then smiled at Blaine, gesturing at him and pointing to a spot next to her on the floor. "Sit, sit, sit. You can help me. We have to make sure none of the hooks are stuck together. And that none of them are broken."

"Uh oh. Annie's got herself a Christmas ornament buddy!" Taylor said from across the room. "That's going to be your job for life now, Blaine."

"What?" Blaine asked, sitting where he was instructed.

"Every year she's going to make you help her sort through ornaments." Taylor replied knowingly while nodding. "In fact, she'll probably make you and Kurt come up a day early now just for that. Kurt's job is baking for the holidays. Burt's job is to stare at the TV and watch sports, because he burns everything he cooks and breaks everything he touches. We think he does it on purpose to get out of doing anything."

"Oh, that's perfect! Kurt does all the baking on Wednesdays!" Annie gasped, seeming to have not heard the last bit about her son. "Oh, Kurt, you did remember right?"

"We brought it in, Annie." Carole smiled. "He worked on it all day yesterday. I knew he was good at baking cakes, but I've never seen someone so good at make so many sweets. They looked delicious, especially the potato candy."

"It tastes delicious too." Blaine said, and then his eyes widened. "Whoops."

"Blaine! Did you get into it last night after I went to bed?" Kurt asked sternly.

"Er… of course not." Blaine quickly busied himself by pulling three tangled ornaments out of the box as Burt settled back onto the couch, cradling his daughter.

"What did he not do?" Burt asked gruffly, taking off his hat with one hand.

"He got into the potato candy. And now he is in trouble." Kurt answered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Kid, everyone got some after you went up to do your thirteen hour moisturizing crap. And I hate to break it to you, but _I've_ been doing it for eight years."

Kurt looked at his father, scandalized. "That is _terrible_!"

Burt just shrugged. "You make candy and tell us we can't eat them for a day? Just be glad Finn wasn't home. Between the three of us, they'd have been gone."

Annie rolled her eyes. "Carole, I am sorry. Your life must be very difficult."

"Oh, I raised Finn alone. Nothing seems difficult after that." Carole laughed, taking her now calm daughter and kissing her cheek. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, no, I don't think so." The older lady sighed, looking out the window. "It just keeps and keeps snowing. I hope the roads aren't too bad."

"I don't care. I'm going home tonight." Kurt said in a firm voice. "Mercedes, Rachel, and I are meeting at three in the morning. I have _got_ to get those shoes that are going on markdown. I may have had to cut my Black Friday shopping short last winter… but Kurt Hummel is going at it full force tomorrow. Snow and ice will not stop me."

Blaine made a face, glad Kurt couldn't see him do so. For someone who never had any free time, Kurt sure always seemed to find time to shop. Then again, maybe the boy did it in his sleep. Honestly, Blaine wouldn't be surprised. And anytime Blaine asked him about shopping he'd get that guilty look on his face and, in a voice much higher than his regular voice, chirp out, "I don't know what you're talking about. I've been at school/home/the garage all day." Yeah right.

"You can't go home if the roads are icy, Kurt." Carole said quietly.

"I can handle icy roads, Carole. You forget that my car is huge. And dad makes sure I have good tires for winter weather." Kurt assured her. "Blaine, however, skipped school last week because it started to flurry."

"Did not. I didn't feel good."

"You felt perfectly fine until you checked the _weather channel_." The younger boy sang the last two words, smiling cheerfully down at his boyfriend.

"So, Blaine, I hear you were a little nervous to come today?" Annie asked, effectively putting an end to any bickering that was about to begin.

"I'm not so nervous any more." Blaine said softly, a little embarrassed.

"Good! Taylor can tell you. Andrew's very nice."

Taylor moved to join them on the floor, looking very happy. "He's the _best_. Just expect a lot of questions at first, but you'll be fine. Meeting Burt is, like, thirty times worse than Andy. I promise."

"You know he hates when you call him Andy." Kurt laughed, joining them on the floor and grabbing Blaine's hand. "What else does Blaine need to know?

"Psht." Taylor just waved her hand. "Andy's amazing. There's nothing else he needs to know."

"While I appreciate that, Taylor, I don't think that's quite true."

"Grandpa!" Kurt hopped up and dragged Blaine up with him. "This is Blaine Anderson."

Kurt's grandfather, who was very tall in contrast to his short wife, was wearing a nice suit. He looked just as well dressed as Kurt's grandmother always looked. He shrugged his jacket off and then shook Blaine's hand. "Hello there Blaine, I'm Andrew. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Blaine said a little shyly.

"Call him Andy." Taylor said cheerfully from the floor.

"Don't call me Andy." The man corrected.

Taylor mouthed, 'Call him Andy' when he wasn't looking, making Blaine laugh. He found himself very glad that Taylor was there, because she seemed to have a great way of easing tension.

"Good, good!" Kurt's grandmother stood and took the butter from her husband. "You lot sort through these ornaments and get them untangled while I finish dinner. Andrew, don't pick on Blaine too much. He's a sweetheart and you'll scare the poor thing off with your jokes."

"Hey! He picked on me; he's going to pick on Blaine. I'll make sure of this." Taylor said, tugging Kurt down on the floor next to her. She then let out a noise, holding up an ornament. "Remember this one, Kurtsie? Burt used to tell you that you couldn't put it up and you'd just _cry_."

Carole stood and made her way over. "Who wants to hold the baby while I help Annie?"

Kurt had his arms outstretched before she even finished her question. "Dad, you better stay in the room. I can't handle any Melody crises."

"Alright, alright." Burt said gruffly, crossing the room and sitting on the floor by them. "Get on with the interrogation, Dad. I don't want to sit through dinner with you harassing the kid."

"I'm not going to _harass_ him. I'm just going to _question_ him. After all, he's dating Kurt. And we're all _very protective_ of Kurt." Kurt's grandfather added, giving Blaine an attempt at a stern look. He looked way too happy to be stern, though, and the attempt failed.

"Oh, trust me." Kurt said, bouncing Melody a bit. "Blaine is protective of me too. You all should start up a club and make a newsletter and buttons."

Burt shot his son a look. "Maybe if you took better care of yourself, kiddo, people wouldn't have to be so protective."

"What do you mean, take better care of himself?" Taylor asked, looking at Kurt.

"Kurt has taken to skipping meals and staying up all night during school." Burt grunted.

" _No_." Taylor said sharply. "No, Kurt. That is _bad_. You can't do things like that. You'll hurt yourself, honey."

"Oh my God. Shouldn't everyone be paying attention to Blaine? Look at that face. Isn't it adorable?" Kurt said, pointing at Blaine.

"Yes, yes, very adorable." Taylor said and turned to Blaine. "Blaine, you have to just force him. Put your foot down, hon. Or bribe him."

"Bribe him?" Blaine questioned.

"You know." Taylor said and made a naughty gesture.

"Okay!" Burt said loudly, reaching over and covering Melody's eyes. "Grandfather and _father_ in the room!"

Blaine covered his face, blushing furiously. Kurt stared at his aunt with his mouth hanging open, clearly in shock.

"And _my_ job is to make everyone extremely uncomfortable." Taylor laughed loudly. "Once again, I have not let anyone down."

There was silence for a few long, awkward seconds before Melody began cooing nonsense and reaching towards Blaine. Blaine scooped her up quickly and cuddled her, very glad for the distraction from the awkwardness that seemed to follow him wherever he went.

"I can't believe you just said that, Taylor." Kurt sighed, finally able speak.

"I just like to keep things interesting, you know me." Taylor laughed.

What happened next was very sudden, as unexpected things always are. There was the distant sound of a door opening and closing. A few minutes went by and then Paige walked into the room through the kitchen, a man following behind her and holding her hand. Paige's red hair was pulled back and had snow in it and she hadn't even pulled her heavy jacket off yet.

"Don't be _ridiculous_." Kurt's grandmother was saying as she walked in behind her. "You're just going to start another senseless fight. Paige Marie, stop it right now."

"What are you doing here?" Paige demanded, going right up to Taylor.

There were several seconds that Taylor just blinked up at her ex, an unreadable expression on her face. She swallowed once, glanced at the man whose hand Paige was holding, and then stood. "What are _you_ doing here? They told me that _you_ weren't going to be here."

"You can't _stand_ being away from me, can you?" Paige said loudly, evidently not caring how rude she appeared to everyone else in the room. "You just knew I'd end up coming, didn't you?"

"Who is _that_?" Taylor shot back. It was almost as if they weren't really even answering each other's questions, but instead just asking the first ones that popped into their head. Which he and Blaine sometimes did when they bickered, but that wasn't important.

Kurt watched Taylor point the man next to his aunt, who looked rather uncomfortable. _He should_ , he thought to himself, _considering he's dating a lesbian_.

"Jumped fences have we? Apparently Becky and Rachel weren't even good enough for the likes of you?" Taylor continued, not even giving Paige a chance to answer.

"What's she talking about?" the guy asked, now looking confused instead of uncomfortable.

"Forget it." Taylor stood up and turned to Kurt. "Kurt, I'll call you tonight, sweetie."

Kurt opened his mouth to say something, looking between his two aunts. Then he nodded. Who was he to ask Taylor to stay? He could only imagine how awkward it would have been… and he could see how upset Taylor looked. He didn't want to subject her to that.

"What? You can talk to Taylor and not me?" Paige exclaimed, this time her anger aimed at Kurt, throwing her hands in the air. "Taylor isn't even your real aunt!"

"Don't you try pulling him into this again." Burt said loudly as Melody began to cry, standing up. "Leave Kurt out of this, Paige. I mean it."

"Do you want to go there?" Taylor shouted, snapping. "Do you really want to go there? Because, sweetheart, we'll go there."

"Outside." Kurt's grandfather said sharply, pointing at the door. "Right now, girls."

"Don't bother." Taylor grabbed her jacket. "I'm leaving. Thanks for inviting me over, Andy and Annie. It was nice to see everyone else."

"Don't you walk out!" Paige shrieked, following her ex out the door. She didn't bother shutting the door behind her, which enabled everyone to hear every single word. "This is _my family_!"

"Your fucking family? You wanted to fucking bail on them because you're dating some forty year old man wearing a Nascar shirt, Paige! You know what? They called me. _Your father called me_! I haven't talked to you in weeks and frankly, I like it that way!"

Kurt bit his lip. He knew this wasn't exactly… true. Over the last few months, he had been torn on his thoughts about his aunts and their fallen relationship. Of course he still wanted the two to get back together, but the more he had talked to Taylor, the more he doubted it would ever happen. This visit was only solidifying the thought that had been there for about four months. He had tried to not dwell on the whole Taylor and Paige thing, because it still bothered him more than it should and he didn't want it to get in the way of other things. Even though he wanted them to get back together, he simply didn't have time to be upset about stuff concerning the split up. He just _didn't._ And that is why he pushed anything about it away. At least, he did for the most part. As more time went by, Paige had popped into his conversations with Taylor more often. Taylor and Kurt were extremely close though, like best friends, so it would have been weird for them to not talk about something that had such a huge effect on both of their lives.

For the first few months Taylor would chat with Kurt as much as she had before the break up, but she would only rarely bring up her ex. But in the beginning of August, Taylor either got to the point where she was comfortable enough to talk about it with Kurt or to the point of just _having_ to talk about it. Right before he had started at CCAD, Taylor had finally confided in him that Paige was being selfish and downright hateful. At first he had thought this was just her still being upset over the break up. Taylor had been very upset to hear that Paige was beginning to 'casually date' even if she didn't want to come out and say it. Which Kurt completely understood because he'd have felt the same exact way in Taylor's position.

When the dating conversations had come up, though, Taylor had never mentioned Paige dating a _man_. And he was fairly sure that would have been discussed on one of their phone dates if she had known. Kurt had sat through many conversations in which Taylor talked about how some friend had told a friend who told another friend that Paige was dating someone new. Of course Taylor had never heard it directly from Paige. They'd tried the whole "friend" thing but it hadn't worked out. Taylor refused to speak to Paige and Kurt had a feeling that everything Paige did that Taylor found out about through friends was just an attempt to rouse a conversation between the two—even if it was a heated argument like this one. Because he still maintained to this day that love didn't just die after twenty years. It just didn't. There was no way Paige had just given up those feelings and he knew Taylor hadn't. No matter how many people Paige tried to casually date—and there were six girls that Kurt knew of and now apparently a man also. There was just no way.

It was after the dating began that Taylor began to make the comments about Paige being selfish and rude—the comments which she'd always take back within minutes and profusely apologize for making. Now, seeing the way that Paige had barged into the room and started an argument with Taylor, saying that Taylor wasn't a part of the family, that it was _her_ family, that comment to Kurt… Maybe Paige was still heartbroken by the split up and under the impression that she was the only one affected. But this was wrong. Completely and absolutely wrong. While it took a while to become a part of the very close Hummel family, once you were there—really there—you never left. So how could she also say that it was her family and not Taylor's? How could she say Taylor wasn't welcome at their family dinner?

His grandparents were to Taylor what Kurt's parents were turning into for Blaine. Taylor was one of their babies. There had been annual birthday parties for Taylor. Whenever the family was in New York and near Taylor, they would make sure to see her at work for a chat or take her out to dinner. It hadn't happened much but sometimes Kurt's grandfather's work took him to New York and not stopping by to see Taylor was _never_ an option. No matter how out of the way it was. Kurt's grandfather had been particularly distraught about the breakup because he, like Burt did with Blaine, frequently joked that Taylor was the favorite of his _three_ children. Taylor was the first of Paige's girlfriend's that the family liked and, as far as they were concerned, Taylor would always be the only girl for their daughter. And she would _always_ be a part of their family.

"You always have to point out that everyone likes you better than me! You were always on the phone with my mom and dad! Always going to see Kurt even if it was three hours out of your way! You were always trying to one up me! To make him like you more!"

" _I wasn't trying to make him like me more!_ I was trying to be an _aunt_ to him! Something you would never do because you were too jealous of a _little boy_!" Taylor shrieked, loud enough for everyone to hear clear as day. Kurt felt his stomach twist a little more with each and every word. "You called him, you bought him gifts! But when did you ever really talk to him? On your own, without me right there? Did you call him after the fight? Did you call his boyfriend and apologize for bitching him out? No! I never had to get Kurt to like me more, _sweetheart_ , because you never even put in effort to get him to like you in the first place! Because you were _jealous_! Fucking jealous of your nephew!"

"I wasn't not _jealous_!"

"Why did you bring a guy to dinner, huh? Why? It must be hard work changing your sexual orientation so quickly because last week you and Elizabeth Adams were fuck buddies! Or does Mr. Nascar T-shirt not know about that? Huh? Does he know about Rachel, Becky, Sarah, Courtney? Why didn't you bring them home? Huh? You wanted to upset him so he'd tell me! Admit it! This is another underhanded attempt to get me to talk to you!"

"Don't you talk to me that way! You can't say anything! You're the one who won't even talk to me!" Paige sounded hysterical by this point. Kurt was pretty sure she was crying.

"Why should I? With you doing all this stuff? Is this what you wanted, _Paige_? You wanted to talk, right? You know what? I hope that you and Mr. Nascar T-shirt have a lovely life together. I hope you _love_ the straight sex. But don't get knocked up, sweetie. Because the second he gives the baby a second look you'll be jealous of it too!"

There was the sound of a slap and Kurt's grandfather rushed out, Burt on his heels.

Kurt looked out the doorway finally. His grandfather was pulling a sobbing Paige back while Burt was struggling to restrain a kicking Taylor, who was also crying. He felt like a little kid watching them argue like this. It made him feel sick to his stomach, because he kept thinking back to trips to the zoo with the two of them happily chattering away while holding hands. Or shopping trips where they were supposed to be helping Kurt, who really ended up helping them more in the long run. It was such a sharp contrast from what he knew their interactions to be.

"Oh my God." Kurt's grandmother said, pulling Kurt's attention briefly away from the fight. "They just came in through the back door and I tried to tell her that Taylor was here to avoid _this_ , but she just walked past me and—I can't believe this. I really can't believe this."

"Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" Taylor screeched, still struggling against Burt. Kurt could see it happening as he looked back out the doorway again for the second time. He didn't want to watch it, but he just _had_ to.

"You're such a bitch! How can you talk like that to me?"

"I hope you enjoyed it, honey, because this is the last you'll ever hear from me!"

"Don't watch this. It's private." Blaine, who had stood up, grabbed Kurt's hand and led him from the doorway. "We wouldn't want them watching us when we argued."

"We'd never argue like that, though." Kurt whispered, biting his lip. Yes, he definitely felt like a little kid right then.

And then there was silence. Two minutes later Kurt's grandfather led Paige in looking absolutely furious. Kurt opened his mouth to say something but Blaine reached over and gently pinched his arm, shaking his head.

"Paige Marie, I don't know what has—."

"Mom, it's really not the time, alright?" Paige snapped, taking her jacket off and tossing it onto the couch. "When's dinner?"

* * *

"There's no way you're driving in this mess, kid."

"We'll be fine. It's just back to Lima." Kurt huffed. "And I'm nineteen."

"I don't care if you're ninety, Kurt. The roads are too bad."

"I have stuff to do." Kurt crossed his arms over his chest.

"What are the chances he'll just give in without getting his way?" Kurt's grandfather questioned, coming up behind Blaine and then sitting next to him on the couch.

"About fifty-fifty." Blaine responded, eyes not leaving his boyfriend. "He's been really mature lately for the _most_ part. Especially since August when school started up… but at the same time he, Mercedes, and Rachel have had this planned for three months. So he's very likely to throw a fit."

"There aren't even enough rooms." Kurt tried, in a weak attempt to get his father to let him leave.

"Yes there are. It's a three bedroom house. Paige and Nascar Guy left two hours ago."

"I would have left two hours ago but you told me I had to wait for it to stop snowing."

Burt just pointed at the direction of the couch. "Blaine, do you want to sit in a car and drive through this on mostly country roads?"

_No._

_Actually,_ really _no._

_Kurt is a scary driver in the safest of conditions._

_This isn't what he said._

"If he really wants to… I mean…"

Kurt sighed, throwing himself onto the couch on Blaine's other side dramatically. " _Fine_. Fine, we'll stay. But just know that I am fully capable of driving in this."

"Crisis averted, and without the help of Taylor. We've come a long way, guys!" Andrew said, reaching over and ruffling Kurt's hair.

"And this also means," Annie began, "That you two can't get the bright idea to leave at midnight. No one is leaving this house until it has been approved by Carole _and_ me. This includes you, Andrew."

"I have places to be in the morning." Kurt's grandfather said, sounding eerily like his grandson. It made Blaine laugh inwardly to himself.

"Then you'd better just hope it stops snowing, hadn't you?" she laughed, sitting on Kurt's other side.

"I'm running off to get some cake before I get trapped in this interrogation. I don't need any more comments about my sex life tonight." Kurt yelped, immediately standing up.

"Comments about what?" Annie, who had been in the kitchen during that episode with Taylor and her dirty hand gesturing, asked.

"About how Blaine… never mind, honey. Kurt, bring me some of that cake!" Andrew called after his grandson.

"Mmkay!" Kurt called as he left the room.

"I hate to be the one to bring up the big elephant in the room…" Andrew began loud enough to draw Burt's attention as soon as Kurt's was out of earshot. "But I was under the impression he was back to normal after this hospital stay."

"He's just under a lot of stress, dad." Burt said gruffly, coming over. "I think he bit off more than he can chew with school."

"It's not just that." Andrew said, sitting up straight. "He just seems… different. And he's lost weight."

"I think its stress." Blaine said quietly, almost feeling like he shouldn't be getting involved in the conversation. It almost felt like a betrayal to talk about Kurt when he wasn't in the room, although nothing _bad_ was being said. "He hasn't really had a lot of adjusting time."

"Winter break will do the kid good." Burt sat where Kurt had been previously. "The boys are gonna stay with Carole and I for all of it, that way neither of them will work. And hopefully between Blaine and I, we'll be able to talk him into taking fewer classes."

"Kurt's always had a habit of taking on too many things." Annie sighed, squeezing Burt's leg.

Kurt came in cheerfully with a plate of cake for his grandfather. "Anyone else want some? It's _delicious_. Of course it is."

Blaine just pulled Kurt down onto his lap after the plate of cake had been handed off and squeezed him around the waist. This was mainly because he didn't want the conversation about Kurt to continue. Because really, had he changed _that_ much? He was growing up, adjusting… And to be quite honest, he hadn't had that adjustment time he needed to completely get over things. He hoped that Burt was right and that the six week winter break would help Kurt adjust more wholly, but that was more for Kurt's sanity than his own.

Kurt relaxed against him, eating some of his own piece of cake. "Are we coming here for Christmas this year or what?"

"If you want to, sweetheart. We'd love to have all of you here. Finn included."

"Finn was sad he couldn't come." Carole smiled sadly. "But I'm glad they won the game. He was particularly sad to be missing you, Andrew. He enjoyed that scary movie talk just a little too much, I think."

"He was just a sweetheart. It's a shame he couldn't come too." Annie reached over and pushed Kurt's hair back. "This hair is getting long again. Well, long for your standards, sweetie."

"No time to get a haircut." Kurt said truthfully after swallowing some cake. "Busy, busy, and busy."

"Are you actually making things yet?" Carole asked interestedly, sitting on the floor with Melody near them. Melody kept her eyes on Blaine, who made silly faces at her in hopes that she'd blow a raspberry—and she didn't, of course.

"Not physically." Kurt shrugged. "Just a lot of sketching. Next semester I get to use a fancy tablet computer and make better sketches… and maybe do some actual clothes. I don't know for sure, though."

"Just getting the basics in?" Burt asked, snorting as he watched Blaine and Melody's interactions.

"Yeah, I guess." Kurt said. "It's time consuming, though, even if it's easy."

"Now what are the chances of you getting an actual career?" Andrew asked, putting on a stern voice. "I know you said you didn't care, but _I_ do."

"Blaine here's going to be a lawyer. So you don't have to worry." Kurt joked, pointing back at Blaine who instantly stopped making silly faces. "He'll make enough money to support me."

"A lawyer? Really?"

"Andrew, you already knew that. I told you." Annie shook her head. "You never listen to me."

"Sometimes you talk too much, honey. Where do you want to go to law school, Blaine?"

"Toledo sounds like it might be okay… but I'm really not too sure." Blaine shrugged a bit, arms still around Kurt. "OSU has a good law program too, I think."

"You should stay close to me." The younger boy chirped.

"We'll see." Blaine laughed a bit. "I think I'm kind of just going to look into the different ones and see what I can get into… I don't think I'll have that many options though."

"Why not?" Burt asked, rather gruffly. "Are your grades not good?"

"Oh no, they're really good." Blaine said nervously. And his grades were good, excellent actually, so he didn't want Burt to think his money was going to waste—even if Blaine fully intended to pay every penny back. "It's just… where I took time off. It won't look good on a law school application."

Kurt looked down, frowning. "I didn't know that, Blaine…"

"It's okay." The older boy assured him. "It's not like I'm trying to get into Harvard Law or anything."

"My old college roommate teaches at Harvard. I'm sure they take special situations into consideration, especially if you'll pay them all that tuition." Andrew said thoughtfully. "It's a very hard school to get into regardless. Very selective. But it's a very good school. Do you want to be a lawyer, Blaine?"

"Yeah." Blaine nodded.

"Any particular reason why?"

Blaine hesitated. "Well… I don't know. There's just so much crap everywhere and I guess I want to help people... I kind of want to work with hate crimes. That way people don't get the easy way out, like the people who did this to Kurt did… because too many people just turn a blind eye on this type of thing and… and I'd like to put an end to it, I guess."

"That's a very good reason." Andrew said seriously. "When people have reasons like that behind what they do, it gives them a reason to be good at what they do. So many people just become doctors and lawyers for a big check and don't care about the people they're working for. You do know, of course, that you can't pick just cases like that?"

"Yes, sir." Blaine nodded, feeling like his answers were sounding incredibly lame. Then again, he had been put on the spot and he found himself wishing he'd listened to Kurt and had come up with answers to basic questions like these. Of course the man would ask about what he wanted to do with his life and how he would support Kurt. "But I can still help the other people too just as well as I can with the people I can relate to."

"Something like that is going to take a whole lot of dedication and determination." Andrew said. "It's hard. I deal a lot with investing. It's hard to make a name for yourself to get to where you want to be. Same as with your stuff, Kurt. You've got to want it and know you can do it. And you can't stop, no matter what anyone says."

"Even your grandpa?" Kurt smirked.

"Even your silly, worried-ridden grandfather, yes." He laughed. "I just worry about you, Kurt. I think we all do. I know you hate that, but it's just the way it is."

"I can take care of myself. I'll be fine." Kurt promised. "And now in place of Dad is Blaine hounding me to do anything I try to get out of. And sometimes Blaine can be worse than Dad. Dad will get annoyed and storm off, but Blaine just pouts and keeps on until I cave. It's really for the better."

"If pouting is what it takes to get you to take care of yourself, then he'll just have to keep on doing that." Burt sighed. "Although I'd like to force you both to live in Lima for a few more years."

"He misses you, hon." Carole said. "He's always going on about how he hopes you're eating and sleeping. Speaking of sleeping, I think we need to get the baby to bed."

"I'll do it." Burt grunted, standing up. "Otherwise she'll spend four hours crying."

Carole kissed the top of Melody's head and then passed her over to her husband. "It's awful, Annie. She's fine until she sees him, but the minute he walks through that door and knows he's home…"

"Oh, Kurt was the _exact_ same way." Annie said. "Only it was worse. Even if Burt wasn't home, he'd just bawl. Two and a half years, Carole. He spent a weekend with us once and…"

"Awful." Andrew interrupted as Burt left the room. "He had some _lungs_ on him. You wouldn't believe how loud the little thing could cry."

"Oh God." Kurt moaned. "Please, no."

"I think it's cute." Blaine said cheerfully, glad that he wasn't the victim of embarrassing stories for once.

"You drove poor Elizabeth crazy, Kurt." Annie laughed and turned to Carole. "But she found out that if she sang to him, it'd usually hold him over for a while. Sometimes, though, she'd just have to call Burt and work and have Burt talk him down over the phone."

"And there were the few times she had to drive Kurt down to the garage." Andrew nodded.

"No, no. That was when he was older and throwing the temper tantrums. He went through a _terrible_ phase when he was about four or five. Didn't you, Kurtsie?"

"No comment." He responded, although he vaguely remembered hearing stories of how Burt would have a stern talking to with Kurt in his office. Only they usually ended in Kurt coming out with a lollipop and a wide grin on his face with Burt looking sheepishly at his wife and mouthing 'I tried.'

Everyone but Kurt laughed and Blaine ruffled his hair.

"So, Blaine… tell us about your family. What do your parents do?" Andrew asked.

Carole immediately looked very tense, but Blaine just said smoothly, "My dad is a pediatrician. My mom was more of a stay at home mom, really… She had some random jobs but nothing that was really a career."

"You look so familiar." The older man said, looking thoughtful. "I can't place it though. You never lived here, did you?"

"No, sir." Blaine shook his head. "But my grandmother runs for office a lot, so you could have just seen one of those family pictures or something."

"No, no, I knew that. That's not it." The older man shook his head too. "I want to say… but no…"

"I don't think you'd have met him, Grandpa." Kurt said, sliding down so he was on the floor by Carole. "He didn't even go to school in Lima so you wouldn't have seen him at my house. And he didn't live anywhere near here."

" _I remember_! You! You sing at the Christmas shows at Kings Island!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Do you remember, Annie? With that blonde girl!"

"No!" Kurt's grandmother covered her mouth. "Yes! You're that _adorable_ little boy! They would put your pictures on the brochures with her! They came in the mail every year!"

"Oh my God." Blaine covered his face, blushing. He was well aware that, up until he was thirteen, his mother had kept each brochure in a box with other various things from singing competitions. Why had he ever worked at a theme park? _Why?_

"Yes! Oh my God! We went when Kurt was nine or ten. That was you, wasn't it? Oh, I knew you looked familiar but I assumed it was from the election photos!"

"Oh my God." Blaine repeated. "That was probably me."

"No probably about it." Kurt's grandfather said firmly. "It was you."

"I didn't know that!" Carole laughed, patting Blaine's leg. "How long did you do it?"

"From the age of eight until seventeen, I think." Blaine mumbled into his hand.

"This is amazing! Kurt, do you remember?"

"Huh?" Kurt asked. "Remember what?"

"When you were nine or ten we were there. And we saw Blaine and that girl perform."

"Oh my God." Blaine's face got even redder. Kurt had seen him sing at a Christmas show when he was a little kid? It kept getting better and better. "Are you for real?"

" _No way_!" Kurt grinned, hopping up excitedly. "Really?"

"Yes! And, Blaine, he goes… ' _Well the boy sounds fabulous and his suit is amazing, but that girl could use a whole lot of work_! Annie said loudly. "Do you remember, Kurt?"

"I don't remember." Kurt admitted. "I think I remember the Christmas tree though."

"Oh, Andrew laughed for days over it. He always said Kurt was something else."

"My life is so embarrassing." Blaine moaned, finally lowering his hands.

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand, dragging him up. "I'm getting him away from you lunatics before he realizes how insane you all are and breaks up with me."

"Goodnight, boys." Carole said cheerfully. "No leaving in the middle of the night, Kurt! Shopping will have to wait!"

"Shopping won't wait." Kurt said firmly, pulling Blaine towards the stairs. "I brought my laptop incase. I'm googling the best deals online as soon as we get in the guest room. I hope you're ready to stay up all night, Blaine."

"Really? You put me through that humility and then make me stay up all night and shop over the internet? What if the stuff doesn't fit?"

"Then I'll exchange it." Kurt shrugged, pulling out his phone. "Mercedes, listen. Yeah, we're snowed in up here. I know, I know. You have got to buy me anything fabulous you find and I'll pay you back as soon as I'm to Lima. Oh, and don't let Rachel buy anything with animals on it, okay?"

Kurt pushed a door open and pointed in the door. Blaine made his way through and looked around the very cozy light pink bedroom, nose scrunching up adorably. "Pink? You're really making me sleep in a baby pink bedroom?"

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "You're gay, shut up. No, not you Mercedes. Blaine is commenting on the guest room. Yeah, the pink one. I think it's cute too."

Blaine sat on the bed, looking around. Maybe it was a cute room, but that didn't meant he wanted to have to stare at pink walls for the rest of the night. Kurt handed Blaine his messenger bag and he opened it, pulling out a thing of potato candy and his laptop. "For me? Is this candy for me?"

Kurt nodded, rolling his eyes again.

"I'd serenade you, but I'm too eager to scarf this stuff down." Blaine said excitedly, pulling the Tupperware lid off and pulling out a large piece of potato candy. He'd never had potato candy before the previous night, but he was now convinced that it was the best thing he'd ever tasted in his life. And he thought a whole lot of other things were _extremely_ delicious, so that said a lot. He groaned loudly, eyes rolling into the back of his head. "This stuff is so amazing, Kurt."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Kurt laughed before saying goodbye to Mercedes and hanging up the phone. "I can't believe I don't get to shop tomorrow. Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the _year_."

"You already said you were going to order crap online." Blaine shrugged, picking up the remote and turning the television on. "We can watch the Home Shopping Network and make fun of the old lady clothes if you want."

"You find it amusing. I find it appalling."

"Well," Blaine stuffed another piece of candy in his mouth. "Wecooolnd."

"No. We're not fooling around in my grandparent's house."

Blaine swallowed and frowned. "You fooled around in your father's house last night."

"Shh! Someone might hear!" Kurt hissed, throwing one of the pink pillows at him. "And that was your fault. You forced me."

"I didn't see you objecting. In fact, you're the one who took it to the next level if I remember it correctly."

"You're never allowed in my bathroom when I'm in there again, Blaine. Do you hear me?"

"You're trying to make me fat so you're the only attractive one in the relationship with this candy, aren't you?" Blaine retorted, not able to think of anything witty enough to answer Kurt's question. "Aren't you?"

"I don't have to try. I can't believe you had your brother send you gift cards to Taco Bell because I kept getting onto you for eating so much fast food."

"I can't believe you go to the store and come back with all this _healthy food_. Everyone knows that October through February are prime junk food periods. It's like the junk food season, Kurt. And even if I gain weight, I always lose it by time March comes and I start running again. If you're so concerned, why'd you give me my own bowl full of candy?"

"Because I _thought_ I would be sweet since you so willingly agreed to not eat any of the candy until today. Apparently it was all a lie, though."

Blaine turned his body so he wasn't facing Kurt, shielding his candy. "You can't take it from me. I'm having a hard enough time adjusting to this week without my fishes."

"Can we just discuss how sad it is that you have full on conversations with plastic fish in a toothbrush holder? Blaine, I think you need to start inviting David over more. Or branching out at UK."

"I have friends at UK." Blaine said. "And usually they visit me when I work at the library and we hang out. But it's a little hard to invite someone who lives in Lexington up to Cincinnati to hang out, you know? Why don't you ever bring anyone from CCAD?"

"Because I haven't really talked to anyone that much." Kurt admitted, finally joining his boyfriend on the bed. "It's so competitive, you know? Not really a friend-making environment."

"I think you're just taking it too seriously. I'd go insane at UK if I didn't have people to talk to. I sit through my entire Sociology lecture with this random guy on Stumble Upon on his computer. And I've got this group of people who I always have English classes with, so we always chat before and after class."

"Yeah, but you're you. You find it easy to go up to someone and start a conversation. I mean, look at you. You're adorable, you've got this infectious smile, and you're nice." Kurt said, ticking each reason off on his hands.

"You have all of those things too, Kurt. You're just in this mindset that everyone in your school is your enemy. Especially that one Aaron kid or whatever his name is."

"Alec." Kurt frowned. "And I'm glad I did the best presentation last Thursday."

"I just think you'd be a bit less stressed if you made friends with people who knew what you were going through… I mean, I get that school is tough. But I can't _truly_ know what you're going through because we're in completely different disciplines…" Blaine moved into a lying position, setting the bowl on the bedside table, and pulled Kurt close. "Don't you want someone to talk to that will understand?"

"I've got Mercedes. She understands." Kurt said, linking hands with Blaine and resting his head on Blaine's chest.

"But she's not here… Kind of like how I can't just talk to Wes and David all of the time, because they aren't here, so I just talk to my fishie friends. That's why you need to make friends where you are. So you'll have a wider range of people to go to."

"I know, I know." Kurt played with his fingers, thinking that maybe it was time he bought Blaine a real fish. "I'll work on it next semester. But for now I'd just like us to get through finals so we can have some alone time together."

"We have some alone time together right now." Blaine said, looking down at him and smirking.

"Fine, fine. But we have to wait until they go to bed." Kurt snorted, nuzzling Blaine's side. "Because if somebody walked in on us, that would make Christmas _extremely_ awkward."

"They know we have sex." Blaine rolled his eyes, but did not push the matter. "I mean, they have to."

"Finn doesn't."

"What?" Blaine pushed himself up, resting his weight on his elbows and staring at Kurt.

"Finn doesn't know we have sex." Kurt snorted. " _Apparently_ he thinks 'gay dudes don't do it.'"

" _What_?"

"That's what he told Rachel." The younger boy giggled a bit, reaching over and taking a piece of candy from the bowl on the nightstand. "And Rachel tried to explain that gay men do have sex and told him about how she walked in on her parents once and he said 'Kurt and Blaine don't do that.'"

"Wait, wait… Finn really thinks we don't have sex?" Blaine asked slowly.

"I swear I told you this, Blaine. They had this discussion right after Rachel's Halloween party. Remember?"

"All I remember about that party is you and Sam trying to beat each other's high score on Angry Birds." The older boy said. "Finn really thinks we don't have sex?"

"Probably why he's so nice to you." His boyfriend said cheerfully, munching on his candy and then giggling. "They still haven't done it yet. He probably likes you because he thinks you two have a lack of sex life in common. If he knew I was having sex and not him…"

"You're lying." Blaine said. "Totally lying."

"I am not! Finn thinks I'm a virgin!" Kurt exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Isn't it funny?"

"Kurt, there is _no way_ Finn thinks we live together in a one bedroom apartment and haven't had sex yet. No. Way." Blaine shook his head. Because there really was _no way_ anyone would ever think that about the two boys. If you spent one week alone with them in their house, the sexual attention was absolutely ridiculous. If the boys were both on the couch, without a doubt one of the boy's would be trying to persuade the other into taking a break for "at least a hand job." And on the very rare days that _neither_ boy had any form of assignment due… well, chances are they didn't emerge from the bedroom unless it was to use the bathroom, shower, or bring food back to the bedroom.

"Call him yourself and ask if you don't believe me, Blaine. But that is at least _one_ person that would be surprised if someone walked in on us fooling around right now."

"So we wait?" Blaine stuck his lower lip out, checking his watch.

"We wait." Kurt leaned over and kissed his ear, whispering. "But it might just be worth it."

"Oh God, Kurt, if you knew what it did to me when you do that." Blaine gasped out, squirming.

His younger boyfriend just gave him an impish smile and ate another piece of candy.


	24. Chapter 24

_ **Part One** _

"That kid has barely said a peep all day. He knows he can talk and we won't kill him, right?" Burt asked Kurt several weeks later. It was the first Friday of the boy's winter break and the first day they would be staying at home with Carole and Burt (and, of course, the baby). Because they drove Kurt's car, Blaine had decided to just hang out all day at the garage. Although Kurt was working in the office mostly and was able to talk while he did paperwork, the older boy's nose had been buried in his book nearly the entire time.

"Oh, he knows. He's wanted to read that book for six months, though." Kurt shrugged, glancing towards the corner of the room where his boyfriend was curled up in a plastic chair and lost in a whole other world. "He wanted to start it last night before bed, but I wouldn't let him. Otherwise he'd have been up all night. So we compromised. I drove while he read."

"You sure he isn't just trying to keep out of the way?"

"Blaine." Kurt said loudly, knowing he would get no response. His boyfriend didn't even look up from the book. "Blaine. Blaine, Blaine, Blaine. Blaine, if you look up I'll make you brownies tonight. And buy you Taco Bell every day for a week. And let you have the big TV on Sunday nights. Blaine, Blaine, Blaine."

Blaine still didn't look up, just frowned at his book and flipped the page.

"See? He's off in some other land right now. Remember that huge storm in August? With all the lightening that caused tornadoes in places? He read through the entire thing, Dad. And when he finished his book he looked outside and was like, 'Oh, I didn't even hear it raining! Kurt laughed, sorting several folders and then sticking them into a filing cabinet. As frustrating as it could be to get Blaine's attention when he was reading, Kurt had to admit that he thought it was absolutely adorable how Blaine could get so lost in his books.

"Sometimes I wonder if he's comfortable around us. And you said he was anxious about the break." Burt confessed, still eyeing Blaine.

"No, he's nervous about meeting his brother. They talk on Facebook some and on the phone every once in a while, but he's nervous about actually seeing him again in person." Kurt explained quickly. "He even wanted to leave yesterday when he got in from his final, but I still had to get all of my baking recipes together and stuff. He's perfectly comfortable."

"Good." His father grunted and said loudly, "Hey, kid, you hungry?"

"No thanks!" Blaine called, not even looking up from his book.

"What's he reading that's so good?" Jeff asked coming into the office. He was pushing his sleeves up as he walked with one hand and grabbing his phone with the other.

"Get back out there and do your job." Burt sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"You know me, boss. Getting too antsy for Santa Claus to work!" Jeff grinned, stopping to mess up a stack of papers that Kurt had neatly set up.

" _Jeff!"_ Kurt exclaimed. "Go do your shenanigans on someone's transmission or something! These papers are important!"

"More important that someone's transmission?" Jeff laughed loudly. "Do you realize how bogus what you just said is, Little Burt?"

"Why do you hire these people, Dad?" Kurt just sighed and straightened his pile. "Jeff, don't you have a child to steal candy from or something?"

"My wife got mad at me the last time I did that."

"No. Your wife got mad she's married to a nuisance like you."

There was a loud crash from the garage and someone saying "Whoops! I didn't do it!"

" _How does he read through that_?" Burt exclaimed, gesturing at Blaine who hadn't even flinched at the loud noise that had made everyone else in the room jump half a foot.

"All that gel must have gotten lodged in his ears." Jeff chucked at his joke.

Blaine looked up at that and stuck his lower lip out, looking like a wounded puppy.

"Oh, Blaine." Kurt laughed and got up from the desk, moving towards his pouting boyfriend. "Your hair looks fine. Jeff's main goal in life is to insult people, remember?"

"I'm going to see what that noise was." Burt said gruffly, prodding Jeff out of the room and saying, "Don't be mean to my son's boyfriend or I'll give him your Christmas bonus."

"Is that legal, Burt?" The boys heard him ask.

"I'll make it legal."

Kurt climbed onto Blaine's lap and carefully closed his book, making sure not to bend any pages. "Hello there, Blaine Anderson."

"Hi, Kurt." Blaine smiled and slid his arms around his boyfriend's thin waist.

"I'm almost done with the paperwork. Do you want to hang around here with Dad until close or do you want to go home and see Carole and Melody?"

"I want to go home and see Carole." Blaine said, getting a silly smile on his face. He really adored Kurt's stepmother. Kurt knew that they still had almost daily chats on the phone, even if it was just for five minutes while Blaine walked from one building on UK's campus to another. He also know that Blaine really missed being able to eat breakfast alone with her and seeing her every day in general. To be completely honest, she had become a very important part of his life and anyone could easily see that.

"I'm glad you and Carole get along so well." Kurt smiled and touched Blaine's cheek, blue eyes on him. "She's pretty amazing, isn't she?"

"She is." Blaine agreed, nodding very seriously.

Kurt leaned forward, kissing Blaine's forehead. It wasn't often that the boys got time to just be together like this, but they planned to spend as much of their winter breaks together as humanly possible to make up for that fact. The only thing that made both boys feel a little better about the lack of quality time spent together was the fact that it was because of school _and_ the fact that they had both gotten excellent grades. Well, they _knew_ for a fact that Blaine got amazing grades and Kurt would know by the next night. "I'm so proud of you, Blaine. I can't believe your grades this semester. And you took seven classes… I am _so_ proud of you."

Blaine positively beamed, sitting up a little straighter. "It was nothing."

The younger boy leaned back slightly to look at his boyfriend, mouth hanging open a bit in shock. "Blaine, you got _seven A's_. In one semester. I can't wait to tell Dad. He'll probably take the family out to dinner to celebrate."

"You don't have to tell him, Kurt." His boyfriend said bashfully.

"He's paying. He should know that he is putting that money to good use." Kurt protested. "Straight A's. In college. That is ridiculous, babe. I'm so proud of you."

"It's not that big of a deal." Blaine shrugged, but he still had an embarrassed smile on his face. "It's just reading and writing mostly."

"So? It's still very good. You're just so smart." Kurt stroked his cheek. "I was nervous that you wouldn't do good where you took so many classes… I didn't think you'd do badly, but I thought you'd get a few B's in the mix… but, wow. Your grades are so good, babe."

Blaine smiled and pressed their foreheads together. "I'm sure your grades will be just as good when they're released."

"Maybe." Kurt smiled back, fingers still on his face. He knew _most_ of them would, but at least one class was pretty up in the air. Depending on how he did on the final could either make him or break him. There would be no in-between. But, as Blaine kept reminding him, what's done was done and there was nothing he could do to change it. There was really no point in worrying, so instead he was trying to just enjoy himself and the six stress-free weeks that lay ahead. "Are you almost done with your book?"

"It's so good!" The older boy said excitedly. "Do you think I looked rude reading all day?"

"No, just antisocial." Kurt giggled and buried his face in Blaine's neck. "Dad was worried you felt uncomfortable."

"Psht. Why would I be uncomfortable?" Blaine waved his hand. This was funny because at the same time last year, Blaine would still get a little nervous if he walked into the kitchen alone to get Kurt a glass of water and the man was also in there alone. If there was one thing that made Kurt immensely happy about the fact that Blaine left UK to move in with him, it was how close Blaine had become with his family. Before his attack he hadn't known intimate details of the lack of familial relationships in Blaine's life, but he was so grateful that Blaine meshed so well with his own family. Because he was more than willing to share them with his boyfriend. He loved that Blaine had found a support system in them, because even if they were Kurt's family, they were now Blaine's too. He didn't know how to explain that though, so he just smiled at his boyfriend.

"So what's on the agenda after dinner?" Blaine questioned after a while, eyes on Kurt.

"Well I figured you, Dad, and Finn could stay home and watch that football game."

"You're going out with Mercedes and Rachel, aren't you?" Blaine pouted.

"Quinn's in town too. We're going shopping." Kurt's eyes lit up "I haven't been shopping in ages. _Real_ shopping at least."

"Of course." Blaine laughed a bit, but very quickly resumed his pouting.

"We can spend time together tomorrow. I promise."

"Only if you get up early with me and go to Westerville."

"What? Why?" Kurt frowned, looking confused. "Why are you going all the way out there?"

Blaine pressed their foreheads together. "I'm going to see Wes and his family, remember? That's where they actually live. But you're more than welcome to come, Kurt."

"I don't know… I haven't met them before. They might not want to meet me." Kurt pursed his lips together. He wasn't normally one to get nervous about meeting people, but he knew how much Wes' family had done for Blaine. In a way, it would be harder to meet them than he imagined any real introduction with Blaine's family would have been. There would have been serious pressure to be liked by Wes' family and Kurt had a… strong personality. People tended to not like or understand him at times. It had always been that way. Normally it wouldn't bother him, but Blaine considered Wes' family special and because of that it made Kurt anxious.

"Wes' mother would be _absolutely thrilled_ to meet you. You didn't have anything to do until the end of the day, right?" This time Blaine's eyes were the ones to light up and he smiled widely at his younger boyfriend.

"Well, I _did_ …" Kurt began hesitantly. "But if you were willing to help me, I could probably get away with going to Westerville with you."

"And what would that _be_?" Blaine questioned. "I've already told you five times. I'm not dressing up like one of Santa's elves. I'm only half an inch shorter than you and I'm contemplating trying to stretch myself out so I won't be subject to this next year."

"How would _that_ be helping me out?" Kurt giggled a bit. "No. I'm going to make some cupcakes. They take hours to decorate them, but if you helped…"

"I can't do that." Blaine said quickly. "I know how to make breakfast and No Bake cookies and that is _it_. The rare time you get me to make dinner and it doesn't explode is a miracle."

"You just don't know how to decorate things because you've never _tried_. But it's okay, I'm a trained professional. I've been doing this since I was four. And if you think we're going to have kids and not all sit around the table decorating cakes and cookies, then you are highly mistaken, Blaine Anderson."

"You can just stay home. I'll go alone tomorrow." Blaine began wringing his hands together nervously. He was not a fan of being thrown into family type stuff with his knowledge. Usually if you sprang it on him, he'd deal just fine. But if you warned him and gave him time to think, he would work himself into a frenzy and contemplate every single thing that could go wrong.

"You cannot tell me you're scared to decorate cupcakes. It's easy." Kurt leaned back again to look at his boyfriend. "No one will make fun of you. Well, not too much."

"I'm just not used to this kind of stuff… We didn't even do this stuff when I was… well, before…" Blaine mumbled and let his voice trail off. "I never did a whole lot of family oriented things. Even when we'd go and tour other countries, it would usually be me wandering off on my own when Dad did work things and mom went shopping."

"I realize this. But I think that since you're a part of my family now, you have to start getting used to having a real family." Kurt leaned down, kissing his forehead. "Because Dad will get out the shotgun or the flamethrower if you ever try to leave. You're a prisoner of war, Blaine. We've stolen you from the awful Andersons and you're stuck here."

"I don't know…"

"Come on. Carole will help. Maybe even Finn, if he's around." The younger boy ran his fingers through his boyfriend's hair, not even caring about the gel. In his opinion Blaine deserved it for all of the time he messed up Kurt's hair.

"That's even worse. If you see me mess something up, you still have to love me. Or something."

Kurt couldn't help it. He just laughed loudly and hugged his boyfriend. "Carole would probably marry you if you weren't nineteen and gay, Blaine. I don't think it's possible to mess up decorating a cupcake either. If it looks that bad, we'll just tell them Finn did it."

Blaine snorted. "Don't you mean Melody?"

"No. Finn. You should have seen him trying to icing the cupcakes for our Glee club bake sale. They weren't pretty. There was a reason we only sold Puck's." Kurt kissed his cheek. "I'm going to finish this last stack up and then we'll go, okay?"

"Okay." Blaine reached for his book after Kurt stood.

"Don't get too into it." Kurt warned, taking his previous seat again. "I'll only be like five minutes."

"Oh, fine." Blaine hopped up and wandered around the office, looking around curiously. He had never been in the garage long enough before to really look around the place and he clearly had a few more minutes to waste. It didn't take him long to find a picture of a toddler Kurt and a grin slowly spread across his face. "Aw, so precious."

Kurt glanced up and his mouth dropped open. "Hey! Stop looking at that!"

Blaine picked up the frame and showed him, grinning. "I like your pink shirt."

"I knew I should have Blaine-proofed this room." Kurt muttered, going and attempting to take the picture from him. Blaine held on tightly though, shaking his head. "No."

"Yes,"

"No."

"Yes."

There was a low whine from the corner of the room and both boys froze and looked across the room to see Kreacher, in his cage and looking particularly miserable.

"Go get your mutt." Blaine said, shielding the picture.

Despite the fact that Kurt was taller, he knew Blaine was taller and he had no real hope of getting the picture back without bribery or blackmail. It was low, but sometimes you just had to do what you had to do. "I'm getting on your Facebook tonight, Blaine Anderson, if you don't let me have that picture back _right now_. You know you hate when I look at your cute long hair."

"This isn't over." The older boy said, thrusting the picture out. He wandered to Kreacher's cage and let him out, scooping him up. "Let's give Kurt puppy dog eyes and maybe he'll get done sooner. It's just me and you tonight, bud."

"Finn's home."

Blaine went from pouting to look excited within half a second. "Really?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow he leaves again, but after that trip he'll be back on Christmas Eve."

"Hear that, Kreacher? I don't have to bond with you anymore." Blaine teased as Kreacher licked his face excitedly.

"Poor thing is so starved for interaction that he'll be friendly with you." Kurt snorted, setting the picture down where it had been displayed and returning to the desk once again. The funny thing was that he wasn't even sure which one he was talking to.

"Just hurry up before I get bored, otherwise I'll start the book again. I was at a _really_ good part!"

* * *

" _Wessssley, wake upppppp_!" Blaine sang early the next morning, bounding into

Wes' room and jumping on his bed.

"Hnnnnnngh."

"Wake up, wake up, _wake uppppp_."

"Shut up, Anderson." Wes rolled over, pulling his pillow over his head. "Who gave you coffee this early?"

"Wake up, wake up, wake up." Blaine said, sitting up and prodding Wes in the side repeatedly.

"Go bug one of your other friends." The Asian boy moaned.

"Mumma, Wes won't get up!" A toddler screeched, running into the bedroom. She placed her hands on her little hips and angled her leg so her knee was pointing out, her dark eyes narrowed into an adorable glare. This was only made more adorable by the fact that her hair was very messy and going about in different directions, probably because she tended to crawl under furniture when adults were not in the room with her.

"Lefdadooropen!" Wes smacked Blaine in the head with his pillow after sitting up. "Sarah, go."

"Mumma, Wes won't let me stay in his room!"

Blaine reached down and scooped the four year old up.

"LOOK!" she pulled her nightgown up over her head.

"Sarah, you can't just show people your panties even if they have Nemo on them." Wes sighed, leaning over and tugging her purple nightgown down. He still looked and sounded half asleep. Blaine had gotten so used to waking Kurt up that he was used to the glares, sighs, and grumbles, though, that they just didn't faze him anymore.

"No! I'm full!" She pulled her nightgown right back up and patted her stomach. "Yum oatmeal! See, Blaine? See?"

"Just say you see so she'll pull her nightgown down." Wes hissed, elbowing him.

"That's one big tummy!" Blaine laughed. "Is there any of that oatmeal left for me?"

"Nope. I ated it all." She shook her head, looking very solemn. "Braid my hair, Wes."

"No."

"Braid my hair, Blaine."

"Okay." Blaine said, ruffling her dark hair. "Go get a brush and a clip or a pin or whatever it is you use."

The toddler hopped off of the bed and ran out. They heard little feet running and shortly after there was a loud bang, which was followed by an "I'm otay!" and then the sound of little feet padding much slower. Blaine just laughed quietly, convinced that Sarah had gotten at least ten times cuter since he'd seen her last.

Wes collapsed back against his pillows, groaning. "It's too early. What time is it? Where's Kurt?"

"It's noon. And Kurt couldn't make it. There was some emergency at the garage or something. Not that Kurt can do too much…" Blaine shrugged. "Hey, sweetie."

Sarah clambered back onto Wes' bed and thrust a purple brush and two purple pony tails into his hands. "Piggy tail braids, please and thanks."

"Your favorite color must be purple." Blaine laughed, sitting her on his lap. "I like purple too. I don't even know if I remember how to do this, though, so you may have to be patient. Something your brother here knows nothing about." He separated her hair into two sections, tied one off, and then separated the remaining into four. "Like this?"

"No, no, like this." Wes moved over. "Three."

"Okay." Blaine moved the pieces together. "Wait, I'm doing it wrong."

"No, oh yeah, you are."

"Sarah, are you making the boys braid your hair?" A woman said, coming into the room. "That might be a little dangerous."

"They're smart. They're smart." She nodded.

"I'm confused!" Blaine declared, looking up at his best friend's mother. "I think I've made a mess."

She laughed and made her way over. "You're supposed to be braiding, not twisting."

"This is silly." Blaine mumbled, untwisting her hair. "Are you sure I was ever really braiding before?"

"You're taking too long!" Sarah said, climbing off of him and very nearly stepping on Blaine in an area that would have made it very difficult to stand. Or breathe, really. At least for a few minutes.

"Be careful." Wes' mother chastised as she ran from the room. "I'm sorry, Blaine."

"It's okay." Blaine assured her, standing and going to hug his best friend's mother. "She's gotten so big."

"Well it has been over a year." She pointed at him. "Which is too long… But I'm just glad you let yourself in, sweetie. I was at the other end of the house and was hoping you would. You know you can't hear anything in this huge house." She said, hugging him back. "No growth spurt yet, sweetie?"

"No." he sighed, shaking his head. "Kurt's had another one though, I'm pretty sure."

"I still want to meet this boy." She said, ruffling his hair. "I miss your longer hair still, too."

"Not growing it out, Jess. I'm sorry." Blaine said firmly, shaking his head. "I'm too old for that kind of hair. If I had had time, I would have gotten a haircut before now. It's already too long."

"Wesley!" The woman suddenly exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

Wes shot up into a sitting position, eyes flying open and looking around his room quickly. "What? What?"

"It's after noon! I knew you weren't getting ahead on reading for next semester! You went back to bed! Blaine is here!"

"So? You two catch up." He yawned.

"Come help me get the lasagna in the oven, sweetie." She said, patting Blaine's cheek. "Wes, if you aren't downstairs in ten minutes, Blaine is taking all of the cookies home with him."

Blaine's hazel eyes lit up and he grinned. "If you need the rest, Wes, you just sleep on."

Wes' mother shook her head and led Blaine from the room and towards the kitchen, chatting with him happily as they walked. "How's school going, Blaine? Are you still in English at UK? Did you get good grades?"

"Yeah, school went really well this semester. It was a little tough though." He said cheerfully, scooping Sarah up as she attempted to run past him. "I got ya!"

"No, no, no, no! _Fire!"_

"Wesley taught her to scream fire when she wants attention." The woman sighed. "She decided to show her father and I in the middle of Ikea last night."

Blaine laughed loudly. "That's great!"

"Five years ago you'd have been on my side. David and Wes have ruined such a sweet little boy." She laughed as Sarah struggled to break free, now yelling out, "Fire! Tornado! Snow storm! A-pop-da-lips!"

Blaine stood her on his legs and just grinned at her. "Do you even know what an apocalypse is, Miss Sarah?"

"It's when two people kiss. That's _gross_."

"You say gross, little sister." Wes came into the room, now properly dressed and groomed. "I say fun. Did you show Blaine your new song?"

"Put me down, Curly!" she squealed.

"Alright, if you promise to not call me Curly."

"I promise, Curly."

Blaine rolled his eyes as he sat her down. "Wes, I know this is your doing and I hate you."

"Hate is a bad word! Shut up now, please!" The little girl demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "Mommy, you should listen too."

"I'm listening." Her mother said absent mindedly as she cleaned the counter off. Wes' eyes widened in horror at this, and Blaine soon understood why.

The little girl cleared her throat, shared a look with Wes, and began to sing:

" _My brother Billy had a ten foot Willy,  
He showed it to the girl next door,  
She thought it was a snake  
And she hit it with a rake  
Now it isn't ten foot anymore!"_

"Wesley Isscac Li! Sarah Elizabeth Li!"

"Jessica Elaine Li!" Sarah mimicked.

Wes had to lunge across the room and push Blaine back into his chair, because he was in the middle of falling off of it as he laughed so hard that he was gasping for air. It was impossible to tell whether he was laughing at the song he little girl had been singing or the fact that she had just called her mother by her fist and middle name.

"Blaine, do not encourage this behavior!" Jessica, or Jess as Blaine called her, exclaimed as Blaine fell off of the stool, grabbing Wes and dragging him down with him. "It was not even that funny!"

"Why would it be funny, mommy? Wes told me it was the perfect song for little princesses to sing."

If the boys had been near regaining their composure, it flew right out the window as Wes let out a loud guffaw, which prompted a series of rather immature giggles from the shorter of the two boys.

"I will never understand boys." Wes' mother said, shaking her head. "Sarah, we do not speak of willies and snakes in this house. Or anything else that Wes tells you is acceptable."

"Mommy, Wes is a bad influence." Sarah said solemnly.

"They both are, sweetie." Jessica sighed, watching Blaine and Wes trying to get up from their spots on the floor but failing miserably due to the fact that they kept making each other laugh. "Never act like them or date anyone who acts like them."

"H-Hey!" Blaine pouted, finally untangling himself and standing up. "I'm not a bad influence. I'm a very good influence. I make good grades, I have good manners, and I'm pocket sized. David says that at least."

Jessica kept her eyes on Blaine and then suddenly snapped her fingers in the direction of her son, who was still on the floor and in the process of tying Blaine's shoelaces together. "Wesley, stop it. You're twenty, not four like your sister."

"Damn." Wes mumbled. "David's mom watched as I did it to David and she just laughed when he fell."

"I will have you know, Wes, that Blaine and I were _trying_ to have a mature conversation and you entered the room and turned the entire house upside down. Why is this?"

"Because Blaine woke me up."

" _It's noon!_ " Blaine scoffed. "What, do you sleep all day?"

"I _intended_ too, actually." Wes retorted, taking a seat. "Go on. Carry on with your _mature_ conversation. I'll just sit here and munch on these delicious Christmas cookies."

Jessica leaned over, ruffling Blaine's hair. "We miss having you around. We all do. And especially around the holidays. You're the only one that will sing real Christmas songs with me. Wes just sings Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer and I'm Getting Nothing For Christmas."

"I'm sorry." Blaine frowned, feeling a bit guilty. He had alternated holidays and summers at David and Wes' houses, and even if it was not his family it had always been genuinely fun. Neither family was as amazing as holidays with Kurt's family had been, but he still missed it all the same. "I'm really sorry I missed Thanksgiving too. I meant to try to come at night, but we went to see Kurt's grandparents and got snowed in."

"No, I wouldn't have wanted you driving out in that mess anyway. In fact, you probably shouldn't stay too long because Jake said the weather was going to get bad tonight too. How was meeting the grandparents? I'm sure they adored you."

"I'd already met his grandmother, but it was the first time meeting his grandfather. He was nice… they're all really nice. His family is like the complete opposite from mine, really. Geeze, I'm using the word really a lot, aren't I?"

"Yes, you _really_ are." Wes said from the other side of the room.

"Just ignore him." Jessica sighed. "I don't know where we went wrong with him. Anyway, Kurt's family lives in Lima, right?"

"His dad and step mom do, but his grandparents live somewhere near Akron. The roads are all gravel where they live, but his grandfather works in investing in Akron… or something… it was all kind of confusing and a lot to take in at once." Blaine explained hesitantly. "So that's where we were. It's so country you can only get cell phone service if you go on the top of this really steep hill, but apparently the person that lives near the hill isn't shy about using his gun, _so…_ " he just trailed off.

Wes' mother just laughed and ruffled his hair again. "It's fine, sweetie. Just know that we missed you and you are always welcome to come and see us. Even if it isn't a holiday. Jake and I would love to drive halfway and meet you for dinner or something. We miss having you around. It was nice to have someone sane in the house besides myself. David could offer some of that too, but we haven't seen him in nearly just as long. He lives up by you, doesn't he?"

"Sort of. It's about twenty minutes away." Blaine responded.

"David's dad advises I never run a country." Wes chirped, hopping onto another stool. "He seems to think I have control issues."

"No." Blaine gasped, grabbing a spoon and hitting it on the counter while saying, "I will have order! You're like Umbridge, Wesley. Only less like a toad and more like an Asian."

"I don't know whether to laugh or hit you." Wes snorted, grabbing his spoon and then properly demonstrating the correct way to bang a gavel. "And you're banging it all wrong. It's all in the wrist. You should be good with your wrist. You are gay, after all."

"Oh my God." Blaine's eyes widened in horror.

Thankfully, Wes' mother was used to his antics and just ignored him—in fact, she probably had blocked him out entirely. She just continued on with her questioning. "Are you all doing okay financially? I know it can be hard to live on your own and go to school. Have you still got those two jobs?"

"Yes, ma'am." Blaine nodded, after sending several glares at his friend. "And Kurt works all day on Fridays at his dad's garage, too. We've both got money saved up, so we're doing good."

"Mom, does he look like he's starving?" Wes snorted, rolling his eyes. "Can we go now?"

His mother just continued to ignore him, talking to Blaine. "I just worry about you, Blaine. We never hear from you anymore and you had a really rough time there for a while."

Blaine immediately felt guilt wash over him again and he frowned. "I really am sorry, Jess… I just never seem to have time for anything, really. Life has just been... chaotic ever since last October. There was Kurt's attack, and then my parents..."

"Have you talked to them, sweetheart? Have they come around any?"

"You know them." Blaine said awkwardly, looking down. "They aren't coming around... ever. But... but they still pay for my phone and health insurance... Then again, they have people pay their bills for them. They probably don't even _know_ they're paying it. The only reason I haven't changed over is because it's just been so crazy..."

"Maybe they will come around." she said softly, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly.

"After all of this, I don't think I _want_ them to come around." Blaine admitted, looking back down. "The thought of pretending none of this stuff happened makes me sick to my stomach."

"There's always your brother." Wes said cheerfully in an attempt to lighten the mood. And to end the overall conversation so they could leave, but he'd never admit _that_.

"Oh yeah, I've been talking to Alex some. Did I tell you that? He's still in Italy, but he came to see me about my inheritance and stuff... we talk online a lot and we've talked on the phone a few times. He's coming to see me a day or two after Christmas, I think. I'm kind of nervous about it, actually."

"Well, it's great to hear that _someone_ in your family has common decency. Has he been nice?"

"Yeah... I think that we were just under the impression that the other was exactly like Mom and Dad or something." the younger boy mumbled, looking a bit confused. "I mean... It's both of our faults, isn't it? We both could have tried to get to know each other but the twenty year age difference... and I think the only time we ever lived together was for six months when I was five years old or something... but he's been nice and he sends money since my parents don't help out."

"Do you need money?" Jessica asked instantly, although she'd already asked once before. "If you need any at all, Blaine, all you have to do is call."

"No, no, we're fine. We've both got money in savings." Blaine assured her very quickly. "But thank you very much."

"I'll take some money if you're giving it away." Wes offered.

"Go find a nice corner somewhere." Blaine joked, feeling rather proud of himself for his witty comeback. Clearly being Kurt's boyfriend was beginning to payoff—sassy-wise at least.

His Asian friend was completely unfazed. "This actually brings me to my previous topic which we've never technically discussed before, Blainers. Who is hotter, me or David? And you can take your time to answer¸ get a feel for it, you know? Well, don't actually get a feel for it. You know what I —."

Blaine held his hand out, eyes closed, and took a deep breathe. "Firstly, you do not have to worry about me getting a feel for you because that's repulsive. Secondly, both you and David have asked me this at least once a week since you found out I was gay. And I still, just as I have every week since then, refuse to answer that question."

"It's okay, Blaine. I know you're more attracted to me. You can tell me, we just won't tell David."

"I'm not saying who is hotter!"

"Just whisper it. Mom won't listen. There won't be any witnesses."

"Okay." Blaine feigned a look of nervousness and leaned close. "Wes?"

"Yes, Blaine?" Wes asked excitedly.

" _I'm not answering the question!_ "

Wes' face fell and he swatted at Blaine. "Alright, Curly, alright. Fine. Can you wrap up things with the mother so we can get a move on? Hey, maybe I'll go home with you and ask Kurt who is hotter. Then again, clearly his taste in men is lacking. I mean, look at _you_."

The shorter boy just rolled his eyes, not even fazed by Wes' antics. "Wesley, I hate to break it to you but Kurt will tell you that you're hotter and go right around and tell David that he's hotter. He's very sneaky like that. Besides, he only has eyes for me."

"Then he must be blind... OW! Blaine, that _hurt_!"

"What hurt?" Blaine asked innocently, lowering his balled fist.

Wes' mother decided to interject then, finally able to get a word in edgewise and not wanting any injuries to occur. "Wesley, shut up. I haven't seen Blaine in over a year and I'm going to talk to him just as much as I want to. If you have a problem with it, go and see David alone."

"Yes, Wesley." Blaine nodded adorably. "Go see David alone. God knows I see him enough already. He eats me out of house and home."

"Anyway, Blaine, are— _Wes, stop bouncing up and down like that! Act your age_!"

"We want to _goooo_." Wes whined.

"Speak for yourself. The second I walk into that house David's dad is going to try to psychoanalyze me… that or ask me about that psychology class which I never paid attention in. I've gotten _really_ good at Bejeweled by the way. Kurt and I try to beat out each other's high scores when we have time. And, so you know, I'm in the lead."

"Jolly, jolly, ho, ho, and ho. Come on, Anderson. We're leaving. You and mom can finish this lovely chat about missing one another when we come back for your car. Alright? Alright? Alright!" Wes grabbed Blaine by the arm and steered him out of the kitchen.

"Wesley!" Jessica yelled after him. "At least put a jacket on!"

"Don't need it, mom!" Wes yelled back, opening the door. He immediately shut it and mumbled, "Okay, maybe I do."

* * *

"I hope Blaine makes it home okay." Kurt said anxiously later that same night, shifting his weight between both legs. He was standing at the front door, looking out the window as snow continued to fall. "Crap."

"I'm sure he's just fine, hon." Carole said from the couch as Burt stepped in, kicking snow off of his shoes. "Didn't he call an hour ago to say he was heading out? You'll have to give him extra time with the roads."

"It's coming down like you wouldn't believe." He grunted, pulling his jacket off.

Carole shook her head quickly, but Kurt just moaned and leaned against the door, nose pressed against the glass. "Blaine still isn't home."

"Kid'll be fine." Burt said, hanging the jacket up. "Do I smell cupcakes?"

"Don't touch them." Kurt said absentmindedly, still peering outside. "They're not decorated."

"Sweetie, it'll be at least an hour before he gets home. You can't stand at the door like that. You'll catch a cold." Carole stood and made her way over, rocking Melody. "Do you want to hold the baby?"

"Sure." Kurt sighed, stepping back from the door and taking his sister. At least the baby would take his mind off of worrying about Blaine, who he _really_ knew had to be just fine. After all, Blaine was the most careful driver he'd ever met. "Hey, Mellie. Can I hold you when Carole makes dinner? Hmm? Can I hold you?"

Melody gurgled, making bubbles with her spit and touching Kurt's face.

"Look at you, pretty girl." Kurt cooed, following Carole into the kitchen and bouncing Melody. "What's mumma doing? Is mumma getting you a bottle? I think she is."

Melody, who had initially been looking at Kurt, moved her head to watch her mother preparing a bottle. Kurt kissed her chubby cheek noisily and gave her a tiny squeeze. He was still convinced his sister was the most beautiful baby and the very definition of perfection.

"Here you go, hon." Carole brought the bottle over and handed it out to Kurt. "Your new tablet for school came in the mail today. It's up there on the counter. It's very light."

"Ooh!" Kurt said excitedly, glancing over at the box. "Santa came early for Kurt this year, didn't he, Melody?"

Melody gave him an irritated look as she reached for her bottle.

"Sorry, sweetie." Kurt kissed her cheek and repositioned her so she could drink from her bottle. Her little hand rested on his wrist and he felt himself smiling a bit. "Hey, Carole?"

"Yeah, hon?" Carole said as she gathered her ingredients and supplies for dinner.

"Thanks." Kurt bit his lip a bit and looked down.

"For what, hon?"

"Dad has been so much happier since you came into his life and… and thank you. I know our very first Christmas was… awkward, and last year's was awkward because I was still sick… but this one has been really nice so far. Dad's just… and… I'm just glad you're here is what I'm trying to say…"

Carole blinked at him, in shock. After several seconds she crossed the room, arms carefully wrapping around him. "Oh, Kurt, you don't have to thank me, hon." She pulled back and touched his cheek. "I'm just glad we can be a family."

Kurt gave her a small smile, snuggling Melody. "Me too."

Melody made a noise of protest as her bottle tumbled to the floor.

"Uh oh." Carole cooed, picking it up. "You better hurry up and finish so Kurt can help Mommy with dinner. Yes, you better. Because Daddy's sat himself in front of the television and he probably won't leave that spot until December 26th.

"'M not on the couch." Burt grunted, coming into the room and waving his fingers at his daughter who now had a toothless grin plastered on her face. "Has Kurt got you?"

"Kurt's always got her." Kurt said, glancing in the direction of the doorway.

"It's gonna take him a while in this weather, bud." His father sighed. "But I'm sure he'll be fine. They're keeping the highways real salted this winter."

"I know." Kurt murmured, passing Melody off to his father (though this was only because the baby had begun to reach for him, letting out loud whines). "We definitely have a daddy's girl on our hands."

Burt just sat at the table, chatting animatedly with his daughter and wearing that proud smile that had been on his face since the day Melody had been born. Instead of going to help with dinner though, Kurt pressed his nose against the glass. "Do you think I should call him?"

"I think the less distractions he has the better." Carole responded, gently pulling him away from the door. "Why don't you move those cupcakes off of the table and onto the counter so they'll be out of the way when we eat?"

Kurt sighed in a resigned sort of way and began moving the four plates of cupcakes to the counters. He had worked at the garage until three in the afternoon and immediately set out to bake the cupcakes that he was determined he and Blaine would decorate together. That is, if he showed up alive. Sure, on the phone Blaine sounded absolutely fine and confident about driving the roads. But it had now been an hour and a half. Forget rush hour, he just wanted Blaine to get home. He knew he shouldn't call, though, because it was exactly like Carole said. With the roads being bad, Blaine didn't need any distractions. The only thing that made him feel a little better was the fact that by now¸ in the event that traffic wasn't backed up, Blaine should at least be off of the highway and would be driving considerably slower.

"Stop worrying." Burt gruffly, looking at his son. "The boy's been driving longer than you."

"Actually he didn't get his license until right before we met, although he wouldn't tell me why he waited so long. My worrying is completely justified." Kurt retorted, scooping up Kreacher who had pranced into the room. "I hope your daddy isn't dead on the side of the road some where."

"Have you no faith in me whatsoever?" Blaine asked, walking into the room behind him.

"You! Why are you here so soon? Did you speed? You're not dead and a ghost, right?" Kurt spun around on his heels and pointed at him, looking completely shocked.

"I called you after I'd been on the highway for an hour because I didn't want you worrying for two and a half hours. And it's a good thing I called later, apparently."

"I was just worried." Kurt said, almost sheepishly. "Finn called and said the roads were really bad."

"They weren't _awful_." Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I did pass a few wrecks though. It's mostly slush now, but give it a few hours and it'll be an ice rink out there."

"Oh no! We still have stuff to get for Christmas dinner!" Carole gasped. "Burt, go check the weather and see what it's going to be like tomorrow. We may both have to just run out and get stuff tonight before it gets too bad. Blaine, were the roads in town bad?"

"Nah. Not yet." Blaine smiled and waved at Melody, who was grinning at him adorably. "Hi there, pumpkin."

Melody let out an excited squeal and began wiggling around, reaching for him.

"I see how it is." Burt laughed, standing and carrying her to Blaine. "She's one of the babies who just wants whoever walks into a room. Can you hold her when I check the weather? Not that it looks like you have a choice."

"Sure!" Blaine smiled happily and took Melody, kissing her rosy cheek. He then followed Burt into the kitchen, cooing about how sweet Melody was as he snuggled her.

"I think Blaine's first in line at being her best friend." Carole laughed from her place at the oven. "He's really become a part of this family, hasn't he?"

"He has." Kurt said, considerably more cheerful now that he knew Blaine was safe and sound. He went over to the oven and began helping her with stuff, chatting away about school, Carole's work, and Melody until Burt came back into the room with Blaine and Melody in tow.

"Well?" Carole asked, stepping away from the stove and wiping her hands on her apron. "This dinner is done; all you boys need to do is make yourself some plates when you're hungry."

"We should probably head out and get the stuff. It might not ease up. With it this bad, maybe they'll let Finn come on home tonight. They should." Burt said.

"Okay, okay. I'll go get changed. Kurt, hon, can you and Blaine make a list of anything you all want while we're out?"

"French fries!" Blaine exclaimed. "And cheese. And chili."

Kurt rolled his eyes, grabbing a piece of paper. "Don't you want something that doesn't fall under the can-be-served-at-a-fast-food-restaurant category?"

"I can eat cheese in a non-fasty-food type way." The older boy protested while making a funny face at Melody, who was loudly giggling.

"How so?"

"On some of your rabbit food junk. I _can_ , but I won't. I would like it with fries and chili please."

Kurt shook his head and began to fill out his list. By the time he was done Carole and Burt were once again downstairs and bundled up in their jackets. "It's broken down by aisle so you don't get lost again, Dad."

"That will be very helpful for him, hon!" Carole ruffled hair. "But I'll be with him, so hopefully we can figure it out."

"Don't let him go down the car aisle."

"Oh, I learned my lesson last time. _Two hours_ , Kurt. _Two hours_." Carole laughed. "When you two decide to start the cupcakes, just bring her swing in here and set her up in it. She loves it so she won't get very fussy with you. Finn should be getting home soon, they're letting him come a day early since the weather is so bad."

"We gots it." Blaine cooed, wiggling Melody a bit. "Don't we, Mellie?"

Melody just tangled her chubby fingers in his hair and blew spit bubbles, eyes twinkling.

"Be careful." Kurt said, passing the list to his father. "Watch that turn out of—."

"I know, Kurt. I'm the father. I say the same thing to you every winter." Burt ruffled Kurt's hair. "There better be some finished cupcakes when I get home, boys."

"You can't eat a lot, Dad. They're not healthy for you."

"I've been eating your rabbit food. I'll have as many cupcakes right before Christmas as I'd like, kid."

Kurt pulled a chair to the counter, climbed up on it, and opened the cabinet over the stove. It was overfilled with cookies, potato chips, and basically any other unhealthy snack you could imagine. "Junk food!"

"That's Blaine's." Burt grunted, looking away quickly.

" _Dad_ …"

"I'm not an animal!"

"I want a bunny." Blaine said randomly from across the room, smiling at Melody. "But Kurt won't even let me look at them. Because he's not nice."

"Blaine, if I let you look at the bunny you'd try to bring the bunny home." Kurt said reasonably. He had learned his lesson after the sales clerk had let Blaine hold a hedgehog back when they had first started dating. Kurt had, in all honesty, thought Blaine was going to cry when he remembered that you could not have pets (apart from he Warbler birds) at Dalton and he could, therefore, not take the animal home. Kurt did not want any repeats, and rabbit poop was much smellier than dog poop.

"If I wanted to bring the bunny home, then the nice thing to do would be to _let me_." Blaine said slowly, wincing as Melody tugged at one of his curls.

"You won't even take care of Kreacher, how can I trust you to take care of a bunny?"

"I'd take care of it if it was nice. Unlike you and your damn dog." The older boy muttered darkly, wincing again as Melody tugged again. "No, no, no. Blaine would not like to have bald spots, Mellie."

"Santa Clause might hear you being bad, Blaine. We wouldn't want him taking your presents back to the North Pole." Kurt chastised. "Would we now?"

Blaine very quickly shut up, but he did continue shooting Kurt very displeased looks.

"As entertaining as watching you two go back and forth is, we really do have to go, boys." Carole said, grabbing Burt's hand. "We'll be back as soon as we can. You two will be okay with Melody?"

"We're almost trained professionals by now, Carole. Blaine even changed a diaper semi on his own last night." Kurt said proudly. "He's come a long way from being the one who passed her off any time she pooped or cried."

"Okay, the poop was coming out of the diaper and up her back. I thought she _exploded_." Blaine stated, and returned his attention to Melody. "I thought you exploded. I thought you went ka-boom."

"Melody causes his IQ to drop drastically." Kurt laughed. "Go, we'll be fine. Be careful and don't worry. Blaine and Melody will just be over there having squealing contests to see who can be the loudest and most adorable and I'll probably still be making the icing by time you get home."

As if on cue, Melody let out a loud squeal which Blaine immediately copied.

Burt waved at them all and led Carole out of the house. Kurt shut the door behind them and turned to Blaine with a little hop, clapping his hands together. "Baby down! You're going to help me make icing!"

"Uh… isn't it in a can with that little dough boy?" Blaine asked slowly.

"Well, we have some of that _but_ I usually make icing." Kurt eased Melody out of his arms. "Grab the swing. And get that look off of your face. You look like I just said I'm killing your dog. I don't know why you're nervous about this."

Blaine grabbed the swing, frowning. "Because I don't _do_ stuff like this. I've never done anything like this before. Wes' family buys pre-made baked goods and David's mom doesn't know how to even turn an oven on. They have a cook."

"David's family has a cook?" Kurt's jaw dropped.

"They're kind of rich. Both of his parents are in medicine." Blaine explained, sitting the swing down where the younger boy pointed to near the table. "They have a cook and two maids that alternate each day. It's a little crazy. It was so awkward to have someone clean your dishes and your room."

"I can't even imagine having that much money." Kurt said quietly, placing his baby sister in the swing after kissing her cheek. "Is it all from their jobs?"

"Probably not. Big money like that is usually passed down, I think." Blaine sat himself at the table. "What are you doing?"

"Putting on Christmas music." The younger boy chirped, putting his iPod onto his iHome and starting it. _Have a Holly Jolly Christmas_ music immediately filled the room and Melody cooed happily, eyes watching Kurt as he got ingredients ready.

"She's entranced." Blaine laughed, tickling her tummy. "Mellie likes her big brother, doesn't she? I like him too a little bit."

"You liked me a lot last night." Kurt smirked in a smug sort of way.

"Your brother's ego has gotten a little too big for how tiny he is." His boyfriend responded, giving Melody a 'See what I have to put up with?' look. Melody just continued staring at Kurt, a silly grin on her face. "Fine, I see how it is. It's because he's taller, isn't it?"

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "Only half an inch, Blaine. It hardly counts. At least I'm not as tall as Finn."

"I guess that's true." Blaine said, nudging Kurt's foot with his own when he sat down.

"Are you trying to distract me, Blaine Anderson?"

"Fine, fine, fine." Blaine sighed and bit his lip anxiously.

Kurt leaned over and kissed him while saying in a muffled voice, "Do you know what song is on this CD?

"Wh… _Oh_. Do you want me to chase you around the kitchen, Kurt?" Blaine grinned into his lips.

"No." Kurt just tugged Blaine closer, sliding his tongue into Blaine's mouth.

Blaine made a rather pleased noise, sliding his tongue along Kurt's. He shivered slightly when Kurt placed his hand on Blaine's cheek, pulling his face even closer. Melody let out a high pitched squeal.

"Melody, stop." Kurt mumbled into Blaine's lips.

"Gross, dudes. In front of the baby?" said Noah Puckerman, who was now standing in the doorway¸ leaning against it, and looking very amused.

Kurt quickly pulled away and turned to face Finn's best friend. "Puckerman, what are you doing here?"

"Trust me, I wouldn't have come in here if I knew I was going to see two guys about to go at it. I just smelled the cupcakes. Are they any good?"

Kurt gave a resigned sigh and took two un-iced cupcakes off of a plate, handing one to Blaine and one to Puck. "Where's Finn?"

Puck finished his cupcake with record speed and walked to the baby swing, kneeling down. "Think he's putting his bag up. Wow, she's gotten so big."

Kurt laughed. "Babies grow into little people, Puck. You can hold her if you want."

"No, that's alright. I should probably go. I'm supposed to stop by Quinn's. She _wants to talk_. As long as she doesn't bitch me out again over her abs, whatever." Puck shrugged, but Kurt didn't miss the almost longing look he sent towards Melody. It made his stomach churn just a little bit for his old friend.

Finn trudged into the room, hands in his front pockets. "Cupcakes! Where's the icing and stuff?"

"I was making the icing and stuff when you two interrupted."

"Actually, dude, it looked like you were about to attempt to make something but I don't think icing was involved." Puck pointed out.

"What were they trying to make?" Finn asked, looking confused.

"It looked like they were going to get it on." Puck said very bluntly.

"Thanks for that, Noah." Kurt said in a seemingly sweet voice. He gave a smile which very quickly turned into a glare.

"I'm leaving before Lance Bass goes all diva on me. See you dudes later."

"Bye Puck!" Finn waved and bit into one of his cupcakes as Puck let himself out the back door. "Ooh, are you making the icing? 'Cause your icing is really yummy."

"I was going to, but I don't think I have time." Kurt said, glancing at the cake. "Want to help?"

"I'd much rather watch Veggie Tales with Melon Head. Don't tell anyone I said that." Finn reached down and lifted Melody out of her swing. She whined a bit, but immediately stopped when he snuggled her. "We'll be in the living room." As he left the room, he was singing in a silly voice, "There's never-ever-ever-ever-ever been a show like VeggieTales! There's never-ever-ever-ever-ever been a show like VeggieTales! It's time for VeggieTales!"

"Finn has way too much fun with watching kid shows with Melody." Kurt snickered. "Alright, Blaine. Are you ready for this? Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?" Blaine sulked, wishing he could go back to making out at the table. There was no pressure in making out. In fact, it was one of his favorite things to do. Kissing, cuddling, and reading. Three things he was fairly sure he could not live without. He would rather go without food and sleep than without those three things in his life.

"No, you don't." The taller boy chirped, crossing the kitchen and pulling out two things of icing and two butter knives. "Okay. This is a _butter knife_."

Blaine gave him a look that clearly said, "I can withhold sex, you know? I have a hand."

Kurt just laughed. "Alright. So that is covered." He sat next to Blaine, resting his leg against his boyfriend's. He spoke in a much softer voice, "My mom taught me how to decorate cupcakes. She actually taught me how to bake everything I know how to bake… It's fun. And you'll think it's fun too. Don't put too much thought into it, okay?"

"I won't be good at it." Blaine took one of the butter knives and picked up a cupcake.

"That's okay. It takes practice. It took me until I was eleven to _really_ get it right. Put some icing on the middle of the cupcake."

Blaine got enough for three cupcakes on the butter knife.

"I know you enjoy sugar, but not all of us like to have heart attacks right before Christmas Eve." Kurt giggled, scraping some of the icing off. "There. That much is perfect."

"This is silly." Blaine mumbled anxiously. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize!" Kurt ruffled his messy hair. "Make short strokes from the middle and outward and work your way down in a circular motion."

"That sounds like you're propositioning me, Kurt." The older boy said, grinning mischievously as he began icing the cupcakes, surprisingly doing a very good job for someone who had never decorated cupcakes before.

"You would turn putting icing on a cupcake into something sexual." Kurt snorted, watching him. "See? You're good at this part at least."

"This part? Isn't this it?"

"Of course not. It would be boring if we just had cupcakes with white icing. We have to use tubes of icing with tips to make designs and stuff."

"There is a reason I'm an English major and not an Art major, Kurt." Blaine said, glancing up from his cupcake. "It's not all smooth. Make it smooth."

Kurt rolled his eyes and reached over, guiding Blaine's hand in the proper motion. "See? It's _easy_."

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be." Blaine said, visibly relaxing. "Your mom taught you this?"

"Mom baked with me a lot. I just picked stuff up… but, like I said, I didn't really get good at decorating cupcakes until I was eleven." Kurt began icing his own cupcake. "Dad doesn't cook much… at all, really. I mean, sometimes he tries… but he's worse at it than you." He offered his older boyfriend a small smile.

"I can make spaghetti. And I make a killer breakfast. And." Blaine held up a perfectly iced cupcake. "I can also make your cupcakes look passable. Oh, and I'm very good at heating up your leftovers and heating up frozen foods from Kroger."

Kurt reached past him, sliding one of the plates of cupcakes in front of him. "Yes, yes, I know. But maybe learning to _actually_ cook might not hurt. Imagine this. Seven years from now we're living… say, somewhere… and you're a lawyer and I'm a well-known fashion designer."

"Uh-huh?" Blaine said absent mindedly, working on his third cupcake.

"And I have to be in London for a week. What do you do first?"

"Lock Kreacher in the bathroom and throw away the key?" The older boy asked, smiling sweetly.

"And then?" Kurt rolled his eyes again.

"Stop at a fast food restaurant."

"You have no cash."

"Use my debit card."

"No debit card."

"Alex's card."

"No Alex's card or debit card."

"Use your dad's."

"You have no cash and no cards!"

The older boy hesitated at this, looking thoughtful, and then retorted, "Clearly I'll make spaghetti every day."

"Three times a day?"

"Why not?"

"I give up." Kurt laughed. "You're hopeless. I don't know why you won't take a cooking class with me this summer. I think it would be fun."

"Yes. The idea of sitting in a hot kitchen with fifteen elderly couples trying to rekindle their love and fifteen middle aged couples on the bridge of divorce taking a cooking class as a one last ditch effort to save their relationship sounds like _loads_ of fun."

"It would be something for us to do together, though. Afterwards we could get coffee at that café you liked so much… And we could do something you like too on another night."

"Like sex? All night? I can go for this."

"Hopeless, Blaine. _Hopeless_."

Blaine just grinned adorably. "I'm not hopeless, Kurt. I'm precious, adorable, kind, sweet, and dapper. Sometimes slightly kooky. But never hopeless."

"We banter more than any couple I've ever met." Kurt laughed. "And _you_ are taking a cooking class with me, so I suggest you look into what you want to do once a week."

"Yes, father." Blaine snorted. "I'll get right on that. And it's going to be something you'll _haaate_. Maybe we'll go to that dinosaur museum weekly."

"But I'm terrified of dinosaurs!" Kurt dropped the cupcake he was holding.

"And I don't want to take a cooking class."

"That's _mean_." This time it was Kurt who pouted, crossing his arms over his chest dramatically for the effect. Of course he really wasn't this upset, but where was the fun in that?

"You're mean."

Kurt leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Alright, now for the hard stuff. This is what you needed to be scared about."

"I'm going to make a dinosaur!" Blaine announced, grabbing the tube of green icing a little too eagerly.

"Is that very… Christmasy?" The younger boy questioned, staring at Blaine in amusement.

"It is if I make it wear a Santa hat." His boyfriend scoffed, attempting to make a dinosaur on his perfectly iced cupcake. It didn't end up exactly as he wanted it too though—in actuality, his dinosaur ended up looking like big green globs and the boy had somehow even managed to mess up the white icing on it. "But—but—how?"

"Because you pushed down too hard and moved it too fast. _Slow_ , Blaine."

"Well you just like a lot of things _slow_ , Kurt, don't you?" Blaine quipped, and then his hazel eyes widened in shock. Here he was making his second sexual reference in one night. Wes would have been proud.

Kurt gasped, his own eyes widening as well. "Undapper Blaine! No! We like Dapper Blaine, not Undapper Blaine! Undapper Blaine burps, makes rude sexual comments with Wes, and kisses girls."

"No." Blaine corrected. "Undapper Blaine makes rude sexual comments and burps, but _Drunk_ Blaine kisses girls. Undapper Blaine can be held accountable for his actions while Drunk Blaine cannot."

"Let's just go back to the cupcake decorating before Happy Kurt begins to think about Drunk Blaine and Drunk Rachel, okay?" Kurt said in an overly sweet voice. He wasn't mad at Blaine. Sure, it had not been Blaine's best moment… but it wasn't something he was going to dwell over. That didn't, however, mean he wanted it being brought up in any way—even a joking way.

"Dapper Blaine is sorry for Drunk Blaine's actions." The shorter of the two said quietly, giving Kurt a sheepish grin. He seemed to have picked up on the overly sweetness in his boyfriend's voice and didn't want to push his luck. He picked up a fresh cupcake and held it out to Kurt. "Make me a dinosaur?"

"Please?"

"Make me a dinosaur _please_?" Blaine repeated. "I'll love you forever."

"I thought you were already going to love me forever." Kurt teased, nudging Blaine's foot with his own.

"I'll love you forever and ever?"

Kurt laughed and took the cupcake. "I don't know how to do dinosaurs. I know how to do Santa, Rudolph, snow flakes, presents, snowmen, holly, jingle bells—don't open make any comments you'd make with Wes, Blaine Anderson. I think that you should try a snow man. How badly can you mess _that_ up? It's just three circles, a face, and three dots for buttons."

"I'd really like a dinosaur though… with a little Santa hat…" Blaine stuck out his lower lip. "Or a fish? Can you make me a Christmas fish?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and spoke as if he was talking to an upset child. "Okay, how about this? Tonight we'll stick to Christmas cupcakes and I'll make you a dinosaur cake for Valentines Day and a fish cake for your birthday?"

"It's not going to be tiny, right? Because if it's going to be a dinky tiny cake, no deal."

"It will be an average sized cake." Kurt laughed again and thrust the black tube of icing into his hand. "Now just make three circles for the snow man, okay?"

Blaine sighed and anxiously leaned over the table, attempting to do a straight circle which turned into a very curvy blob. "I suck! I suck! I give up!"

Kurt giggled a bit. "It looks better than your dinosaur."

Blaine's jaw dropped and he blinked at Kurt. Kurt couldn't tell whether he was angry or trying not to laugh. Eventually, though, he let out a giggle himself. "Should I try another one?"

"Yes. There's a reason I made two full batches." Kurt scooted closer, putting his hand over Blaine's wrist and guiding the icing along the next cupcake as Baby It's Cold Outside came on the stereo. His heart skipped several beats, remembering the day in Dalton that the two had sang the song together. And then remembering how Blaine later told him that he had wanted to kiss Kurt that day, singing that song… Kurt was sure Baby It's Cold Outside would be his favorite Christmas song for the rest of his life. He spoke gently in Blaine's ear, "See? You just have to take your time."

Blaine turned his face, capturing the younger boy's lips in another kiss. It wasn't rough and eager. It was slow, sweet, and loving. It made Kurt's heart speed up quickly and almost took his breath away. This was what a kiss was supposed to be when two people were in love. Kurt was sure of this. Because it was perfect—it was perfect.

Kurt let his hand move from Blaine's wrist to his chest. He tried to speak in a stern voice, but he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. ap"Mmh, you're distracting me."

"Couldn't help it." Blaine slowly pulled away and smiled sheepishly. "On the bright side, it looks like a snow man! I guess this isn't so bad."

"No, it's not so bad when I'm the one moving your hand." Kurt teased, tickling his side. "I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too." Blaine answered, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend again as the Bing Crosby sang, " _Ooh, your lips are delicious_."

Yes. Baby it's Cold Outside was definitely Kurt's favorite Christmas song and he had a feeling that it was probably Blaine's favorite too.

_ **Part Two** _

"Mmmh."

Kurt smiled as Blaine snuggled close to him, burying his head in Kurt's side. He was sitting up early on Christmas morning, fingers running through Blaine's soft, dark curls. He had been that way for quite some time, too, but he really didn't have the heart to wake his sleeping boyfriend. Especially because he kept making those tiny little noises and snuggling, trying to get _just a little_ closer. Truth be told, he absolutely loved that Blaine was what he teased him for being all the time—and that was a snuggle bunny. He didn't care what time of the day it was, where they were, or what they were supposed to be doing. If they were alone or with certain company, Blaine would for sure scoot up to Kurt, nuzzle his arm or his side or his shoulder or his neck even, and then just blink at him expectantly until Kurt slid an arm around his waist and tugged him closer. Yes, Blaine was a tiny and positively adorable snuggle bunny. It was becoming one of his favorite things about Blaine.

"Mmh?" Kurt prompted.

"Mhmm." Blaine mumbled sleepily, hand resting on Kurt's leg.

"Mhmm?"

"Stop watching me sleep, it's creepy."

Kurt just laughed and bent down to kiss the top of his head. "You're so adorable when you sleep though, Blaine. You gravitate towards body heat. And you mumble."

Blaine cracked one eye open and closed it before stretching. "You're warm and it's cold. Don't make fun of me."

"Oh, come here." Kurt slid into a laying position and held his arms open. "Merry Christmas, Blaine."

"Merry Christmas." Blaine yawned, getting in Kurt's arms and wrapping his own arms around his boyfriend's thin waist. "I love you."

"I love you too." Kurt smiled and began playing with Blaine's curls again. "I don't think anyone else is up yet."

Blaine scooted closer, hand sliding up the back of Kurt's pajama shirt and stroking the small of his back. "Good. We can lay here together for a little bit."

They two boys fell into a comfortable silence, Kurt's fingers stroking Blaine's hair and Blaine's stroking Kurt's back, until the sun had risen and filled the room with so much light that the Kurt had to resist the urge to squint (thanks to the snow that had not tapered off since the twenty third and was reflecting the sun). Blaine was breathing deeply and evenly, clearly somewhere between being asleep and awake.

Blaine suddenly pushed himself into a sitting position and sat Indian style, blinking somewhat sleepily at him. Kurt sat himself up and smiled, still wide awake. Blaine gave him a very child-like grin. "It's Christmas!"

"It is." Kurt laughed. "You're such a big kid."

"Tiny kid." Blaine corrected, crawling out of bed and going to his backpack.

" _I knew my gift was in there! You lied_!"

"Of course it's in there." Blaine snorted. "You're very gullible, Kurt."

"Gimme, gimme." Kurt chanted, sitting up even straighter.

"This is the big one. I got you other tiny stuff too. But this one will make you love me forever and ever." Blaine sat back on the bed with a tiny red and green wrapped box in his hands. "At least I hope it will."

"I've been in love with you since the day you sang Teenage Dream to me—don't deny it, you were _totally_ singing it to me." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't _supposed_ to be singing it to you, but you were too adorable to _not_ sing to. It was your eyes and your smile."

"Not my fabulous hair?"

"Come on, let's be serious." Blaine scoffed. "I have the best hair. Mine is versatile. It can be curly and adorable or styled and elegant while _also_ being adorable."

"You do _not_ have the best hair, okay? If anything, we're tied in that department."

"Nope. You've got the adorable smile, I've got the adorable hair." Blaine disagreed, shaking his head.

"If anything it is _definitely_ you with the best smile."

"No, no. I love your smile. It's adorable, like you. Let's just go on and admit that you're gorgeous and I'm the little elf."

"Santa's elf?" Kurt smirked.

"House elf." Blaine scoffed again, placing the small box into his hands.

Kurt reached into his nightstand and pulled out an envelope. "This is just your big one too. You go first."

Blaine opened the envelope and pulled out a AAA booklet. Inside it was four hundred dollars. "What's this?"

Kurt took the book and opened it to the last page, pointing to a map that had a green circle in the corner of one page. Inside the circle was written HARBOR SPRINGS, MICHIGAN.

Blaine stared at it blankly, mouth agape. "Wh… what?"

Kurt scooted close, grabbing his hands. "You said being at Harbor Springs was when you were happiest before we met and I just thought… you might like to go back. I wanted to take you next week but I may or may not have messaged your brother through Facebook and he said that it would be better to go after March at least because of all of the ice and he said a lot of stuff you liked would be closed… so… I figured we could try to go over spring break. Yours is a week after mine but I figure we can work it out so that one of us misses a few days of classes. We'll—."

Blaine grabbed his face, crashing his lips against Kurt's.

"Oh!" Kurt said into his lips, pulling his boyfriend closer.

"Thank you, thank you!" Blaine said, kissing him repeatedly. "You don't even… you just… thank you!"

Kurt kissed him back¸ feeling rather proud of himself. "Are you okay with that? Is it a good gift?"

"I can't even tell you how okay with this I am, but it's way too much money and you shouldn't have gotten that much money, and it's just totally amazing." Blaine said, clearly flustered. "Thank you, Kurt. Just… thank you"

"You're welcome." Kurt smiled happily, content to just sit there kissing and hugging his boyfriend all day. He had been hesitant about his idea, and maybe it was expensive, but when he thought about everything Blaine had done for him over the past two years… Of course he was going to do something like this for Blaine.

Blaine kept his arms around Kurt, pressing random kisses to everywhere he could reach and murmuring quiet thank you's.

"You're welcome." Kurt repeated each time, holding him close.

There was a quiet knock on the door and then Burt called through the door, "You kids up yet?"

"We are not kids, but yes!" Kurt called back, feeling a sense of emptiness when Blaine sat up straight, no longer in his arms. "We'll be right down, Dad!"

"Take your time, Carole's searching for the camera."

"It's in the living room on that top shelf with the pictures!"

They heard Burt's retreating footsteps as he called, "It's by the pictures, Carole!"

Kurt snorted. "Take the credit, Dad. That's alright."

"Oh no. I need to give you your big one." Blaine frowned.

"I can wait." Kurt assured him, hopping up. "I don't think I'm even going to get dressed yet."

"You mean you're going to let the rest of the world see you in your pajamas?" Blaine gasped mockingly.

"I know, this is all so shocking!" Kurt laughed. "But my grandparents won't be here until later on. We just won't tell them."

"Oh, they're coming?" Blaine asked, looking genuinely happy. "Good! I really like your grandparents."

"They like you more than you like them. You were all Grandpa could talk about for days apparently." Kurt grabbed his hand and led him out of the room. Finn was on the couch in his pajamas, looking half asleep with his hair going up in all directions. "Morning, sunshine!"

Finn grabbed the couch pillow and tossed it at Kurt, who of course caught it with ease. "Dude, good catch!"

"I was awesome at Dodge Ball." Kurt said cheerfully. "I got a certificate for it."

Blaine snorted loudly while Finn laughed.

"What?"

"Those gym class certificates are stupid." Finn responded.

"Yes. You want trophies and championship wins. Not a paper saying you're good at Dodge Ball." Blaine added.

"Oh, and where are your trophies, Mr. Anderson?" Kurt scoffed.

"I used to have _tons_ of soccer trophies. Santa Barbara didn't want me for nothing, Kurt. I'm sure they're long gone by now, but that's okay." Blaine shrugged a bit and sat down next to Finn.

"Your hair is so curly." Finn snorted, pointing.

"Well you look like that guy from YuGiOh."

" _I loved that show!"_

" _Me too_! I was so depressed when they stopped making new episodes. Nothing will ever top YuGiOh."

"Sailor Moon was neat." Kurt said, taking a seat on the floor by the tree.

Blaine and Finn blinked at him and then began to laugh loudly.

"I just want to feel involved." Kurt pouted. "I didn't watch YuGiOh or anything like that. I watched Sailor Moon and As Told By Ginger… _stop laughing at me_! I do not approve of the way you all make fun of me!"

They all looked up when they heard loud squealing. Carole was walking downstairs with Melody, but the tiny baby was so loud that they had no trouble hearing each shriek. Carole tried to shush her, but her squeals only got louder when she walked into the living room and saw Blaine, Finn, _and_ Kurt—all in the same room at once!

"The poor thing is going to give herself a heart attack from excitement." Burt chuckled, coming into the room from the kitchen. This made her squeals increase even more in volume and Kurt's eyes widened in shock. How was a baby so tiny all of a sudden so… _loud_? "Up on the couch, kiddo."

"I'm not sitting with them." Kurt pouted. "They're not being very nice to me."

"Sorry that your dodge ball certificate didn't impress us." Finn snorted loudly, which prompted snickering from Blaine.

"Not that certificate again, Kurt. How many times do I have to tell you to not mention that in public?" Burt sighed and shook his head, pointing at the empty spot on the couch between Finn and Blaine. "Up there."

"Do I have to?" Kurt moaned, standing.

"Yes."

"Thank you for distracting them, Burt." Carole said cheerfully, turning her camera off.

"No!" All three boys exclaimed at once. Kurt stared at his pajamas in horror, Blaine raised his hand to his messy hair, and Finn stared down at his pink socks.

"Dude, that is _not cool_!" Finn exclaimed.

"Oh my God, I thought you were taking pictures of the baby, not _us_." Kurt stood back up. "I'm changing into clothes before anymore embarrassing photos are taken."

"I'm sure my hair has looked worse." Blaine shrugged.

"Nah, man, it looks pretty bad." Finn snorted.

"Says the one with YuGiOh hair. We can go back there if you'd like. Only then Kurt will bring up the Powerpuff Girls and get pouty again."

"I liked that show." Kurt mumbled very quietly.

"Aw." Blaine grabbed his hand and gently tugged him back down. "Your girly taste in shows is cute. I actually used to watch the Powerpuff girls too. David says I remind him of Bubbles."

"David watches the Powerpuff Girls?" Kurt asked, giggling a bit.

"I made him." Blaine sat up straight, looking very proud of himself. "And he enjoyed it very much. He'll never admit it, though. Can I get some potato candy?"

"No." Kurt said instantly. "We have to open presents first, Blaine."

"Can my first present be potato candy?" he stuck his lower lip out. "C'mon. 'Tis the season and whatnot, Kurt."

Carole disappeared and came back into the room with the bowl of potato candy, handing it to him from behind and patting his head. "There you are, hon."

Blaine let out a tiny squeak and pulled the lid off of the bowl. After hearing Blaine's squeak, Melody began making her own squeaks which kept increasing in volume until Carole shushed her with a pacifier.

"Now that the children are quiet," Burt said looking between Blaine and Melody pointedly. "We can decide what Christmas movie to watch while we open presents."

"We get to watch Christmas movies while we open presents?" Finn asked. "That is so _awesome_! I vote Olive the Other Reindeer because I couldn't hear it yesterday over Kurt and Blaine singing along with that dumb Christmas song."

"That song is not dumb. It just so happens to be my favorite Christmas song!" Kurt exclaimed.

"What song?" Burt grunted, taking his seat by the tree and bending to pull out some presents.

"Baby It's Cold Outside. Dumbest song ever." Finn muttered. " _Ever_."

"'S a 'ood song." Blaine said, covering his mouth, which was full of candy.

"Blaine, sweetie, remember how we discussed not talking in public with food in our mouths? And how even if you cover your mouth and we can't see the food, it's still disgusting?" Kurt laughed, squeezing his leg.

"Kurt, I think you have to learn to live with the fact that you have found a boyfriend who is like _a boy_ and not another you. They can't all have your mannerisms." Carole laughed. "Would you like to hold Melody?"

"I get to hold her next!" Finn said.

Melody reached for Kurt, still happily sucking on her pacifier.

"Oh God, you're really not taking pictures of her opening everything are you? I'm in my pajamas." Kurt gasped as he carefully took his sister. He kissed her chubby cheek as she giggled, which his father of course got on camera.

"We sure are, bud. Your mother and I did this with you too, and Carole did it with Finn. It's her first Christmas." Burt said, holding a present out to Kurt. "Which means she gets to open the first present!"

Kurt settled Melody on his lap and stole her pacifier after taking the small box. "Look here, sweetie!"

She looked down at the box and then back at her father, as if Kurt had lost his mind. Blaine reached over and pulled the gold bow off, sticking it to her hand. Her huge green eyes widened in shock as she stared down at the bow, transfixed.

"You're going to have to help her, hon." Carole said, sitting on the floor where Kurt had been and reaching up¸ tearing some of the paper off. Melody's attention immediately turned to the box and was squealed in delight when Kurt took her tiny hand and helped her get all of the wrapping paper off.

"Hold on, hold on!" Kurt laughed, prying the box and torn shiny paper out of her tiny hands. "I'll get it out for you."

She began to fuss when Kurt took the box away from her. Kurt pulled the stuffed doll out of it and went to hand it to her, but she yanked the box back quite roughly for such a tiny girl and put the corner of the lid in her mouth, grinning. The doll fell to the floor, completely unnoticed by his sister.

"This is where Kurt finds out babies are more interested in shiny paper and boxes than the actual gifts." Burt chucked as he took a picture of his two children, Melody looking content and Kurt looked flabbergasted.

"But it's the best little doll I could find!" Kurt pouted. "And she was going to love it!"

"She does love it, sweetie." Carole laughed, squeezing his knee.

"I could have gone to any old dumpster in Cincinnati and wrapped up an empty box and got the same reaction." Kurt said, his pout not leaving. He picked up the doll and held it out. "Melody, don't you like the doll?" Melody let the cardboard box fall and wrapped her tiny fist around the small baby doll's dress, cooing at it. "She does like it!"

Burt passed over another present.

"No, she's busy with this one!" Kurt exclaimed. "She needs adequate time to bond with her doll."

"If everyone spends twenty minutes bonding with their presents, kid, we'll be here until next week."

"Not everyone. Just Melody." Finn shrugged, reaching down and handing a present to Blaine. "There ya go, dude."

"Movie! Movie!" Kurt yelped, standing and thrusting an annoyed Melody into Finn's arms. "We're forgetting the movie. No, Dad, we're not watching A Christmas Story. That's the dumbest movie ever."

"You only say that because I forced you to wear a bunny suit like he wears in it once." Burt grinned and winked at Finn and Blaine. "I've got pictures."

"Did not and do not." Kurt waved the statement off, crouching down. "Does anyone oppose Charlie Brown?"

" _Bor-_ ring." Blaine answered and then leaned speaking so quietly that Kurt couldn't hear. "Can I see those pictures later?"

Burt nodded a little too eagerly as his youngest child continued going through movies, completely oblivious to his boyfriend and father's plotting.

"Alvin and the Chipmunks?"

" _Christmas, Christmas time is here_ …" Finn and Blaine began together.

"Moving on." Kurt said quickly. "The Grinch?"

"Cindy is probably right at Blaine's height." Finn snorted.

"At least I'm not the Jolly Green Giant." Blaine said, taking the bow off of his still unopened present and putting it on Melody's head. "So pretty!"

"If someone doesn't pick a movie soon, we're watching the History Channel's explanation of Christmas. Does anyone really want that?" Kurt asked impatiently. He was glad Blaine and Finn got along and all, but they could make it very hard to get anything done. Melody blew a raspberry at him, waving her tiny fingers. "Fine, fine. Finn, you win. We'll watch Olive the Other Reindeer. But only because I'm too lazy to wait for you two to choose something that…" he trailed off and shook his head, popping the movie into the DVD player and moving back into his spot between his brother and boyfriend.

Blaine scooted right up, head resting on Kurt's shoulder, as he opened several books from Burt and Carole which he had been dying to read. As soon as he saw them, though, he sat up very quickly and very excitedly thanked the two.

"Santa Jr. over here may have given us a few hints." Burt laughed. "But it kind of defeats the purpose of the other thing we got you."

"How did you know what books I wanted?" Blaine said, smiling goofily at his boyfriend.

"You have a list on the fridge titled 'BOOKS I NEED TO READ.' It wasn't too hard." Kurt laughed, pulling Blaine's head back down to his shoulder. "Now you have something to do when I'm working on school stuff." He looked at Carole. "When I'm working on school work and he has nothing to do he sits on the floor and pouts. _Pouts_. And it's not just that pouty face he's doing right now. I mean he whimpers too."

"It's endearing, right?" Blaine nuzzled him.

"Not in the least bit." Kurt lied. Blaine would have been convinced if Kurt hadn't squeezed his leg briefly. "Let's get this celebration over with. I'm starting to regret not getting dressed every time Dad takes a picture. Is it really necessary to take pictures of _everyon_ e?"

"Shut up, Kurt."

" _Fine."_

"One day, boys, when you all three have many babies you'll understand." Carole laughed. "And then your older babies will whine when you do this too."

"Not gonna happen, dude." Finn said. "Who wants pictures of babies opening bibs and dolls and blocks?"

"You, Finn, will be the worst of all three of you. Just because you act this way now." Burt pointed out.

"Yeah well Kurt will probably hire a camera crew and everything that way he doesn't miss one thing fooling with the camera." Blaine snorted. "Ow! Kurt, that is _abuse!_ "

* * *

"I'm so nervous." Blaine declared a few days later, coming into his and Kurt's—was it okay to say his and Kurt's at this point?—bedroom and towel drying his hair. "What if I say something wrong? What if mom and dad lied about something and he—."

Kurt, who had been preoccupied staring at the gorgeous watch that Blaine had gotten him for Christmas for the millionth time since opening it¸ looked up. He was sitting in bed, already dressed and showered. " _Blaine_."

"No, Kurt. I'm serious. You just don't understand my family. They—."

"You talk to him on Facebook a lot. You talk to him on the phone once every one or two weeks."

"What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he thinks that I'll think it's rude if he doesn't?" Blaine gasped. "What if he doesn't even want to talk to me at all? What if he just wanted to give me that folder and now I look like I'm obsessed with him and—."

Kurt made his way over to Blaine and straightened the collar of his shirt. "Generally he calls _you_ , Blaine. I could sit here and tell you how wrong you are, but you'll just disagree." He reached up, smoothing Blaine's hair down in the back. "Don't worry."

"I have to worry. This is just so weird." Blaine mumbled. "I don't want him to feel obligated."

"He's your brother. Your _family_. He's not doing it because he feels obligated." Kurt kissed his cheek. "Look at us, Blaine. We've gone a whole week without any sort of dramatic breakdown or argument or furniture malfunction."

"That only happened once. It's not my fault you bought a crappy kitchen table, nor is it my fault that Kung Fu Fighting happened to come on while I was making spaghetti."

"Oh I know." Kurt said softly, clearly remembering hearing a crash and walking into the kitchen to find Blaine looking rather surprised on a collapsed kitchen table while said song played in the background. "The world is just out to get you, isn't it?"

"Uh-huh." Blaine nodded and looked down at the watch. "Are you sure you like it? If you don't, you can exchange it. I won't be offended. I know you can be picky."

"It's perfect. I wouldn't change it if you paid me." Kurt said firmly. And he really did think it was perfect. It was a lovely watch, it really was. What he loved most was what Blaine had had engraved on the back. _Time has no meaning when you're in love_. When he'd read it the first time, a chill ran throughout his entire body and he thought his heart would beat right out of his chest. All he had been able to do since opening the gift was stare at it, with big eyes. He had never expected anything as nice as his watch, his gift paled in comparison in his opinion. Blaine was bad at romance? Yeah right. Blaine Anderson was awful at cooking and telling people no, but he was most certainly not bad at romance.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Times one thousand seven hundred and forty six."

Blaine nodded and then began to look anxious again. "Are you sure he even wants to see me? I mean, he brought it up. But he may have just brought it up to seem nice and—."

"Blaine, _stop_. You're doing that thing where you build things up in your head. This is about an anxiety level of six, and you've made it to level twenty. _Breathe_. He is coming because he _wants to see you_. He's in the state and he wants to see his little brother, alright? The same way that when we're in Lima we stop to see Finn. It's nothing more than that, babe."

Blaine didn't look convinced. Instead he sort of wrapped his arms around himself uncomfortably as he sat on the bed. He remained there until the doorbell rang, staring ahead. "Crap. Does my hair look okay?"

"Messily adorable as it always is when you don't style it." Kurt responded, tugging Blaine off of the bed. "Don't worry, really. Everything will be fine. I promise."

"Can I have a hug?" Blaine asked, almost pitifully.

"Oh, Blaine!" Kurt wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. "Of course. And after he leaves, we'll come up here and snuggle. How does that sound? An entire night curled up. You can even read on the Nook C that dad and Carole bought you…"

"Love my Nook." Blaine gasped, as he always did any time someone asked him how he enjoyed his Nook, if he'd figured out how to get books onto it, or, in Finn's case, if he'd named it yet.

As they made their way downstairs, they could hear Burt and Blaine's older brother Alex talking. As soon as Blaine made it into the room, Alex's smile grew and he leaned down towards his son, who was standing and holding onto his leg, and pointed. "Look! Remember Blaine? You talked to him on the phone yesterday!" he then added to Burt, "Well, it's not really talking. It's more stringing random sounds together mixed in with a few words. Is that normal? They say it's normal."

"Oh yeah, it's normal." Burt said gruffly, nodding.

"Hi, Danny." Blaine said, smiling nervously at the little boy.

Danny looked up from where his head was buried in the crook of his father's knee long enough to wave his little fingers and then returned to his previous position.

"Don't you start being shy. You were chanting his name the whole way here." Alex laughed, nudging his son a tiny bit with his leg.

"No!" Danny whined.

"That would be one of the few words he knows quite well." Alex said. "C'mon, Danny. Say hello."

"No hello."

"Hi, Blaine. Hey, Kurt." Alex said, waving. He seemed to have given up hope. "The baby is feeling a little anti-social right now."

"Bud, you want some candy?" Burt asked, kneeling down. "I think the boys have got some candy around here and it might have had your name on it."

Danny raised his head, eyes lighting up. "Hello?"

Burt just laughed as he stood, promising, "I'll be right back with some chocolate, bud."

Danny nuzzled Alex's leg and waved at Kurt, a little smile spreading across his face.

"Hey, Danny!" Kurt bent down and waved at him, smiling. "Do you remember me?"

He shook his head, his smile getting even bigger and his eyes brighter.

"I don't think he knows what you're saying." Alex laughed, ruffling Danny's curls. "Do ya bud?"

"Can he really talk?" Kurt asked curiously, watching Danny. Blaine's nephew was almost as adorable as Melody and that was saying something. Then again, Danny appeared to be much more advanced and was probably much older.

Alex reached down and heaved Danny up, kissing his chubby cheek. "Well, sort of. I think he understands quite a bit. He knows random words. Like 'no', 'don't', 'want', and 'fucker'. Say hello, Danny. He's usually not _quite_ so shy. Dad wasn't very nice to him." Alex apologized, trying to make his son face them again. "Oh, come on, son. I'm telling you the whole ride home he was saying 'Blaine! Blaine! Blaine!'"

Blaine, still a little nervous about seeing his brother again, stepped a little closer. He was beginning to feel better about it though. Alex didn't _look_ like he'd been forced into coming. Maybe their talks over the internet and phone had made it a little easier, and he was glad about that. He wasn't _near_ as nervous as he had been several months ago meeting Alex in that restaurant.

"Look, Blaine's coming up to you since you won't look at him. Wanna say hello?"

Danny stuck his head up, glanced cautiously at Kurt, and then waved at Blaine excitedly.

"Hi, Danny." Blaine smiled and waved back.

"Hi!" he squeaked before covering his face again.

Everyone looked up when Carole rushed in, almost squealing with excitement. "Oh my God, look at him! That is the most adorable little boy I have _ever_ seen! You must be Alex."

Alex held out his hand, shaking it. "Hi. Carole? Blaine talks about you a lot. Thank you for taking care of him so well. All of you."

Carole positively beamed, reaching over and smoothing down one of Blaine's curls that had gone particularly wild.

"We were more than happy to take him in. And Carole's very emotionally attached to the kid. We couldn't get rid of him if we wanted." Burt laughed, coming into the room and holding out a tiny chocolate Santa for Danny. "Here you go, bud. I hope you like chocolate."

"Can't make the woman of the house mad, otherwise you don't eat." Alex said cheerfully. "What do you say, Daniel?"

"Want!"

"No." Alex sighed. "Please?"

"Fuc—."

Alex quickly covered his mouth with his free hand. "No! Don't say that! It gets Daddy in trouble with mommy. Okay?"

The second he lowered his hand Alex chanted, "Fucker, fucker, fucker, fucker!"

"The trick is to act like he's doing nothing wrong." Burt said knowingly. "If it doesn't get a reaction, he'll stop. Worked with Kurt at least. His favorite word was s-h-i-t."

"So if we just ignore it he'll stop?"

Burt just pointed at Danny, who was happily eating a tiny bit of the chocolate that Carole had broken off for him, completely forgetting about his curse word chant.

"You are a _genius_! Oh, Mia is going to _love_ you for this. It's been three weeks now. Isn't that right, Danny?"

Danny let out a whimper, hiding his face in his father's shoulder.

"My God, he is too precious." Carole cooed. "How old is he?"

"Thank you." Alex smiled and repositioned his son so he was facing everyone. "About 18 months. Isn't that right Danny?" he bounced his son. "We've got the big birthday 2 coming up in June, haven't we?"

Danny frowned, attempting cover his face with his little hand.

"You can stop being so shy and quiet now. Grandpa isn't going to come be mean to you again. Kurt's family's all nice, remember?" he lowered Danny's hand, but the boy just stuck his thumb in his mouth and began sucking. "They're nice. Come on and show them how cute you are."

"What did dad do?" Blaine mumbled, his stomach tightening. How could anyone be mean to a little _baby_? Especially one so cute and chubby?

"He told him to stop being so loud last night. He hasn't talked very much since." His brother's eyes narrowed a bit, but then he kissed Danny's cheek and smiled. "Of course when you did that when you were his age, you'd just get louder. He may look exactly like you, Blaine, but he sure doesn't act like you."

"Is this what Blaine looked like as a baby?" Carole asked, slowly moving closer and then tickling Danny's cheek. He smiled and pulled his slobbery thumb out of his mouth, extending his fingers in a shy wave.

"Almost exactly." Alex nodded and set Danny down on the ground. "But Mr. Danny here is very shy and Blaine's never had a shy bone in his body. Danny, where do you think you're going?"

"Up!" Danny said firmly, toddling a few feet and coming to a halt next to Kurt and then reaching up.

"Another word he knows well." Alex snorted. "If you don't want to hold him you don't have to, Kurt."

"I love holding babies!" Kurt exclaimed, scooping Danny up.

"Just don't get too attached." Blaine teased, laughing. Kurt really was adorable when it came to babies. "This one has to go back to Italy soon."

"This one?" Alex questioned.

"We have an almost seventh month old." Burt said. "Kurt's _very_ attached. You'd think she was his kid."

"She is my baby." Kurt cooed to Danny. "But you're still pretty cute! You're the cutest almost toddler and she's the cutest baby. Does that work?"

Danny just looked around the room curiously, not even responding.

"If he was like Blaine, he'd have had a full conversation with you by now." Alex snorted. "Wouldn't you have, Blaine?"

"Probably. You were right. I've never been shy. Not in most cases at least." Blaine said, jiggling Danny's foot. "Was he walking when we saw each other this summer?"

"Nah. He was lazy on us about that. He started crawling really early but started walking really late." Alex said. "It seems like he's going to talk on time though. I'm hoping he's not going to be _too_ shy, but I don't exactly want him to be quite as… friendly as you were."

"Was Blaine a mean baby?" Carole's jaw dropped as Burt laughed.

"Oh no. Uhm… Not unless you made him mad. He was very friendly until then. He would talk to _anyone_. Literally anyone that would walk by… but if they didn't answer, he'd get _heated_." Alex responded. "Once I took him to the store with me when he was four and we were in the check out line and he kept talking to everyone within hearing distance. But this one _huge_ man just ignored him. And he was like ' _You're an asshole!'_ I swear, everyone in any checkout lane heard it and just stared at me."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Did not."

"You did so, Blaine. I thought the man was going to beat me up or something. He was _huge_. Blaine had a temper when he was ignored—you were a bit of an attention whore, really."

Kurt smirked. "Not much has changed then—Ow! Your elbow is pointy, Blaine!"

Blaine just stared ahead innocently, prompting Danny to giggle.

"Oh no. He really said that to the man?" Carole laughed, not even chastising Blaine.

"Yes ma'am. And the guy just stands there. They ended up getting into an _argument_ right in the check out aisle. I swear to God, Blaine, stop shaking your head. The man told Blaine that he was rude and obnoxious. So Blaine argues with him, of course. _Well you coulda just said hello, it's not that hard! Even parrots can do it!"_

Carole laughed loudly, squeezing Blaine's arm. "I can see that somehow."

"Oh God, Blaine. I thought he was going to beat _both_ of us up. He could've done it too, easily." Alex just shook his head. "You were such a smartass."

"He's still a smartass when he wants to be." Kurt assured him, bouncing Danny a bit and making the little boy giggle. "Especially when you try to come in-between him and fast food. It's not pretty."

"Are you two hungry? We've got some lunch left over." Burt said, suddenly realizing they hadn't offered Blaine's brother anything to eat.

"No thanks." Alex smiled. "You okay with that chocolate, Mr. Danny?"

Danny responded by sticking his fingers in his mouth and pulling out a very slobbery piece of half eaten chocolate. He then flashed Kurt a big smile and offered it to him.

"No thank you." Kurt giggled, carrying him to the couch and sitting down. "You can put that back in your mouth and eat it." He then added, "Please. This is a very nice shirt."

Alex laughed and reached into his diaper bag, pulling out a wet wipe. "Babies and nice shirts do not mix, Kurt. I'm sorry to tell you. Actually, babies and anything nice do not mix." He sat by Kurt on the couch, wiping his son's hands, face, and even shoe off. "How did you manage that one? This boy is like a ninja."

Carole squeezed Blaine's shoulder and led him to the couch, sitting down with him. They sat quietly for a few minutes before cries sounded from the other room. "That would be Melody. I'll be right back." She nudged Blaine a bit, clearly trying to get him to talk more, and then headed off into the other room.

"How's school going for both of you? And how's money? Are you two doing okay?" Alex asked.

"Blaine got seven A's." Kurt said, loud enough for Burt to hear.

"Seven?" Burt's jaw dropped.

"Maybe." Blaine said sheepishly.

"I dropped out my freshman year." Alex snorted. "That's good though, Blaine."

"I thought you graduated?"

"I lied to Mom and Dad." Alex shrugged. "I dropped out and got a job in a small business. Mia's dad was my boss, actually. He was the only one stupid enough to hire me. He probably would have fired me too if Mia hadn't liked me so much."

"Is she here?" Kurt asked, interrupting his very serious talk with Danny about how he loved the baby's shoes. Danny of course babbled back, but the only actual word in the string of babbling was "toast" and no one knew what to make out of _that_.

"God no. She hates my parents. I told her we'd get a hotel but she didn't want to. She's staying with her sister while I'm gone. I don't think you've even met her, Blaine."

"I don't think so." Blaine shook his head and smiled when Danny crawled over to him, plopping down in his lap. "Hello, there!"

"That's his sleepy face." His brother laughed. "Look, look. There the eyelids go. Down, up, down, up, the glare—we go through this a lot—and he's out."

Danny curled up to Blaine, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and let out a tiny snore.

"Do mom and dad… know you're seeing me?" Blaine asked hesitantly. He looked over at Kurt who smiled and ruffled his curly hair.

"They know I'm seeing you before I go back to Italy. They might not know we're here now. I left in a huff after Dad made Danny cry and don't intend to go back before the flight out." Alex responded, sighing a bit. "They're not too happy we talk to each other, but I don't give a shit. I think they've convinced themselves that we're going to join forces and try to take down the family. That or they can't stand the fact that we don't like them and like each other… Wanna join forces and take down the family? I live in Italy. I'm sure I can find some ex-Mafia people and you can find some of your old Warblers. I'll buy the weapons and torches if you buy the food."

Blaine just let out a surprised laugh. "I don't know. They probably have the place rigged to blow up if I walk within 100 feet."

"That's nothing compared to what they'd do to me if they found out I dropped out of college… because I may or may not have blown the college money off on a whole lot of useless crap…" Alex laughed.

"Like what? That tuition had to be, like, even worse than out of state." Blaine gasped.

"Clothes, music, movies, TV, car, food, more food…" Alex counted on his fingers as he listed stuff.

"It's a wonder you two aren't fat with how much you all like to eat." Kurt pointed out, taking Blaine's larger hand into his own and squeezing it.

"Our mother was a crappy cook. At least she was when I was little. I'd have to find innovative ways to hide good food in my room. I'd go around to my friends houses and beg their moms for stuff."

"She's still a crappy cook. But I just walked down to David's and ate with them a lot. Or David's older sister would take us to get fast food." Blaine shrugged. "And trust me, Kurt… if I didn't still run, I'd probably blow up like a balloon."

"In that case, I hope you don't stop running any time soon." Kurt said, squeezing his hand again.

"Danny is out like a light." Alex laughed loudly at his son curled up more against Blaine, balling some of his shirt in his chubby fingers. "I let him stay up late last night watching Disney since Dad was mean to him. I may or may not be wrapped around his finger. He's just so cute though! And he knows it! This is his mother's fault. He's discovered if he knows certain words and says them, we'll give them what he wants."

"Huh?" Kurt questioned.

"Like last night when we got to the hotel he pointed at the television and cooed 'Disney' in his baby voice until I put a movie on." Alex glanced at his watch. "I've gotta head out in about fifteen minutes so we can make it to the airport in time, Blaine. This is your cue to tell me where the flamethrower is so we can hightail it and burn our dear parent's house down."

"In the shed!" Burt called from the kitchen.

"Dad doesn't like your dad." Kurt laughed as Blaine snorted loudly.

"Well he's not a very good dad." Alex said seriously. "Good parents tend to see that clearer than others."

They fell into a short silence before Blaine spoke up. "How long have you been married? Mom said you were about to get married before everything… happened."

"I have been married for seven years, but mom doesn't know that. We waited to have kids and when Mia got pregnant I figured I had to lie and say I was about to get married. But we've been together since my 'sophomore year of college. He made air quotes as he spoke the last words. "So, a very long time."

"Why did you wait so long to get married?" Kurt asked curiously. "And why did you lie to your parents?"

"She kept saying no." he snorted. "Actually, she kept telling me to ask her _next year, next year_. And finally she said yes… and I lied to mom and dad because I didn't want them to have…" he trailed off.

"Anything at all to do with it." Blaine finished for him.

"Exactly." Alex nodded, looking very serious. "Our mom and dad have ways of ruining anything good."

"Why did she say no so many times?" Blaine laughed himself, feeling himself becoming more comfortable. They at least had that much in common—their parents sucked and they didn't want them involved in anything concerning their personal lives. That was a pretty big thing to have in common, though, in Blaine's opinion. It probably cancelled out most of their differences.

"Because her dad approved." His brother snorted again. "She didn't like doing things her father approved of. But it really started off as a joke anyway, to be honest. We weren't ready to get married and then we were and then we did. It wasn't like I would ask and be heartbroken each time or anything. I _wanted_ to marry her one day, but I asked when I was really young and everything was about _love_ … but she was right to say no, we were too young then. It just turned into a joke."

Blaine laughed a bit, although he didn't see how something like proposing marriage could ever be seen as a _joke_. "Well I'm glad she said yes finally."

"Me too, I suppose. Now my life is full of her dad bossing me around, her bossing me around, and this one bossing me around." He pointed down at his sleeping son. "It could be worse, I guess, right?"

Blaine looked at his brother. The older Anderson had had the same parents, a sort of similar childhood, and everything had worked out for him. He may not have known his brother very well, but everything about his brother made him feel better about his own life. Maybe one day everything would work out perfectly for him. Maybe things would just naturally fall into place and one day he'd wake up a husband and a father, teasingly complaining about his husband and children bossing him around. In that moment, to be completely honest, he wanted nothing more than to know that would one day happen.

* * *

"Do you think it's enough junk food? Are you sure I shouldn't have bought crackers and cheese?"

Blaine looked at Kurt over the book he was reading two days later and said in a sweet voice, "I don't know. Are we all little old ladies meeting for a book club meeting?"

Kurt narrowed his blue eyes. "Says the _little old_ grandpa reading a book at the kitchen table by the window in that sweater."

"You said this sweater was cute."

"I lied."

Blaine stood and, as he walked past Kurt, teasingly motioned as if he was going to punch him.

"Oh, I dare you to punch me. I could take you and we both know it." Kurt laughed.

"Only because I'm too much of a gentleman to use my leg strength!" Blaine stuck his tongue out and went upstairs. "Why are you following me?"

"People will be over. I have to make sure you pick something you'll look presentable in."

"You just want to see me without a shirt on." Blaine corrected, stepping into their room and going to the closet. "I still think this sweater I have on is nice. It's so warm."

"Nice and warm aren't the same things. I don't know why you shop at Old Navy anyway. I know it's your favorite store and all, but you could do so much better. Like Express." Kurt said, and then added, "Who _wouldn't_ want to see you without a shirt on, Blaine? Your body is perfect."

Blaine pulled the current brown sweater he was wearing off and grinned. "We can't all have my boyish charm."

Kurt rolled his eyes, moving past Blaine and pulling out a red sweater. "There. Wear this one. It brings out your eyes."

"No, I want to wear the blue one. I like blue."

"Suit yourself." Kurt shrugged and put the sweater back on the hanger, not even _attempting_ to do it perfectly because he was too busy staring at Blaine's muscled chest.

"Kurt!" Blaine suddenly exclaimed, eyes wide.

"What?" Kurt jumped a bit.

"You just looked at me and licked your lips!" Blaine accused, pointing a finger at him.

"I did not!" Kurt yelped, cheeks going red.

"You did so!" A smirk spread across Blaine's face and he leaned over, still quite shirtless. " _If you want my body and you think I'm sexy, come on, sugar, let me know_."

"You're such a jerk." Kurt pushed him with his shoulder lightly and walked towards the door.

"You just wish you were as adorable as me!" Blaine called as he left the room. "And by the way, your shoulder is really bony just like my elbow!"

Kurt didn't even bother to respond to that statement, clearly feeling as though his 'assault' was justified. When Blaine made it back into the kitchen, he saw Kurt was putting some potato candy into a smaller bowl. "What's that?"

Kurt looked up, feigning a look of annoyance. "Wipe that fake innocent curiosity off of your face. You know I'm giving you your own bowl of candy to hide from David. Although I don't know how you're going to handle waiting until next Thanksgiving before getting any more. You've become quite obsessed."

"W-What?" Blaine sputtered. "Thanksgiving is so long away!"

"I already told you. This is holiday candy." Kurt said firmly, filling the plastic bowl to the top and placing an airtight lid on it.

"But… really? Why can't it be a once a week candy?"

"Because then it would not be holiday candy… What time are your pips going to be getting here?"

"A few hours probably but I'm not too sure. David's got a church thing. Wes is going with David—wish I could be there to see that—and then they're coming straight here… Thanks for letting me invite them, by the way."

"You live here too!" Kurt laughed. "You can always invite whoever you want to come over. No one will mind."

Blaine shrugged a bit and scooped up his bowl of candy cheerfully. "We might actually get a New Years kiss tonight. How exciting is that?"

"Did we not have one last year?" Kurt asked, looking confused.

"No. You fell asleep around 10:30. You weren't feeling very good, remember? I think your side was hurting you."

Kurt touched his side instinctively, right where his largest scar was. He hated that scar more than he'd ever admit and had gotten into the habit of not even looking in the mirror when he was shirtless because of it. He knew it was silly, but he couldn't help it. "Oh."

Blaine leaned over, tickling his side. "It'll be another first for us."

"Have you ever had a New Years kiss?"

His boyfriend's hazel eyes widened and he said quickly, "Let's not get into that!"

"Oh, I think we should." Kurt said, grabbing his arm before he could leave. "Who was it?" Blaine mumbled something indecipherable. "What was that?"

"Imawef." He mumbled again.

"What?"

" _I said Wes_!"

"W-What?" Kurt sputtered out before bursting into laugher. " _Wesley?"_

"We were drunk."

"Blaine, Wes watches gay porn and has kissed you. Are you sure he's not gay?" Kurt said through laughter.

"We were drunk." Blaine repeated. "And I'm very sure he isn't gay, Kurt. I've walked in on him having sex a fair few times. With girls. He's just… curious. And, again, we were drunk."

"How does David put up with you two? You see, this whole dynamic you three have. It confuses me. David is like the father, but you're the serious one, and Wes is just… Wes. I don't know how your friendship meshes so well." Kurt said thoughtfully. He perked up when the doorbell rang. "That would be Rachel and slash or Mercedes."

"You didn't have to add in the slash there, my love." Blaine laughed. "I would have gotten that much on my own."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kurt waved his hand and rushed off to get the door.

"Please be Mercedes, please be Mercedes." Blaine muttered as Burt walked into the room. He groaned and covered his face when he heard Rachel Berry's voice. " _Damn_."

Burt just chuckled. "We're about to head out, kid, if you want to say a prolonged goodbye to Melody. May buy you some time until someone else gets here."

"Good idea." Blaine said, and left the room calling, "Need any help packing, Carole?"

As soon as he made it into the nursery Carole shook her head at him. "You're only offering to help because Rachel is here. I'm onto you, Blaine."

"I'm offended you would say such a thing." Blaine cooed, picking Melody up from her crib. "Hi there, pumpkin. Do you get to go and see your grandma and grandpa? What are Kurt and I ever going to do without you here to entertain us?"

Melody waved her plush rattle in her little hand and then hit him in the head, grinning mischievously.

"I spot a tooooth!" Blaine exclaimed. "Don't I?"

"Tooth?" Carole asked eagerly, rushing over from the changing table where her bag was set.

"Yep, right there. Maybe. I think it's about to be one." Blaine leaned closer to look, earning himself another smack in the head, courtesy of Melody's rattle. "That's a tooth, isn't it?"

Melody frowned at his lack of reaction and hit him again harder before snapping her mouth shut.

"Somebody's in a bad mood." Carole sang, taking her daughter. "It looked like it was a tooth. Daddy's going to be thrilled, Mellie!"

"Don't leave." Blaine whispered.

"Blaine!" Carole laughed and shook his shoulder. "Your friends will be here soon!"

"That won't do any good if I kill myself before they get here." He mumbled.

"Don't be so dramatic, hon." She laughed again. "I bet you could be worse than Kurt if you tried."

"Kurt's dramatizations are pretty hard to top." Blaine responded, zipping up the diaper bag for her. "Can I go with you?"

"And leave your friends stuck with Kurt, Finn, Puck, Mercedes, Rachel, and possibly Quinn?" Carole asked, giving him a doubtful look. "You _can_ come with us, but I don't think they'd appreciate that very much."

"Wes and David like Finn." Was Blaine's response.

She gave him a one armed hug. "Say bye-bye to Blaine, Melody."

Melody threw her rattle into the air and let out a loud squeal.

"Can I have a kiss?" Blaine said, leaning over and kissing her chubby cheek. "Thank you very much!"

"Have fun tonight, sweetie." Carole squeezed his hand.

"I'll try. Be careful on the drive!" Blaine waved goodbye to Melody and then made his way into the living room, thanking God when he saw that not only Mercedes was there but Finn as well.

"Hi, Blaine Warbler!" Rachel said cheerfully, waving. She was seated on the couch on Finn's lap and directly next to Kurt.

No way in _hell_ was Blaine sitting on Kurt's other side, so he sat in the chair Burt usually sat in and sighed, "Anderson. And hello."

"Hi, White Boy." Mercedes said, waving to Blaine also. "We were just talking about NYU and CCAD. How's UK?"

"He got seven A's." Kurt said before he could speak. He had decided that if Blaine wouldn't boast about his grades, that he would just have to do it. Because seven A's in college was definitely something to boast about in Kurt's opinion. And besides, he was just really proud of his older boyfriend. "And he took seven classes."

"Dude, are you serious?" Finn asked, jaw dropping. "Did you cheat off of someone?"

"Uh… no." Blaine said slowly, looking confused.

"Then how did you get seven A's?"

Blaine hesitated before speaking again, maintaining his slow voice. "I read and studied…"

"You must have read and studied a lot." Finn's eyes were wide.

"Uh… sort of, I guess… I mean, I wanted to take eight classes but they wouldn't let me since I was technically still a freshman… But hopefully in two semesters I'll be back on track."

"So you're trying to graduate on time?" Mercedes asked.

"It won't happen." Blaine shrugged. "But I'm trying. It would save a _whole_ lot of money and I managed this semester… alright."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Alright? Try with ease. I'm dating a genius."

"No. I'm bad at Chemistry." Blaine shuddered a bit. "Very bad. And at foreign languages. And I absolutely _hate_ philosophy."

"Hey, are your friends coming? The funny ones?" Finn asked eagerly.

"They should be here soon."

Kurt's blue eyes lit up and he clapped his hands together. "Mercedes, you are going to _love_ David."

"I don't need you to play matchmaker, White Boy." Mercedes said instantly and in a firm voice. "I am perfectly fine being single."

"No. Just hear me out." Kurt said, ignoring her comment. "He's in pre-med in Cincinnati, and he'll probably be transferring to Toledo. He was one of the council members for the Warblers—his leadership skills are debatable, sure, but he's less controlling than Wes which is saying something."

"Kurt—."

Kurt just held his hand up to shush her, making her glare. "He comes from a very well-to-do family. His dad is a therapist and his mom… well, she's in medicine. They had two maids, Mercedes. _Two_! Now he _does_ have a bit of a problem when it comes to change but that's manageable. He's easily the sanest of he, Blaine, and Blaine's other best friend Wes. He's a good friend, did well in school, has a nice personality and a very nice smile, he's funny, he's cute. You two have similar taste in music and I can almost guarantee he'd like an independent woman like you."

"What part of I don't need you to set me up do you not understand?" Mercedes said, her glare darkening. "I am perfectly fine. I've got more than enough to worry about with classes at NYU and spending every other weekend with Miss Bossy Pants over here. There is absolutely no time in my life for—a boy." The last two words were barely audible as Blaine, who had gotten up mid rant, came back into the room followed by David and Wes.

"David, Wes, you know Finn. The girl on his lap is Rachel Berry and this is Mercedes Jones. Mercedes, Rachel, this is David and the Asian who just wandered into the kitchen without paying attention to me is Wes." Blaine said, pointing at Wes as he just walked into the kitchen as if he owned the place. "I'd remind him that is rude, but he has control issues."

"Wes? Control issues? No!" David gasped. "Hey guys, hi Kurt. Got any cake?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Follow the Asian. It's on the counter next to the coffee maker. Just try to leave some for everyone else this time, okay?"

"I'll try but I can't make any promises." David swatted Blaine's shoulder a bit. "Come with me. I've got to tell you about what my sister did. You're going to _die_."

Blaine and David made their way out of the room after David politely waved to everyone. Kurt waited all of half a second before turning excitedly to Mercedes. "Am I right? Was I right? Oh, look at her, Rachel. She's staring after him."

"I am not." Mercedes said, sitting up a little straighter and returning her attention to her friends. She said in a very casual voice, "He's alright, I guess."

"Come on, Mercedes. He was _cute_." Rachel pointed towards the kitchen. "I think he's your type."

"I'm right here." Finn pointed out. "Please don't openly say other boys are cute."

"Then leave." Rachel gave him a sweet smile, sliding off of his lap.

"Dude, is Quinn for real coming though?" Finn asked Kurt as he stood, after giving Rachel a very quick kiss.

"Yes, Finn." Kurt sighed for the millionth time. "And yes, I'm aware Puck is coming too. They are both dating other people. I think we can all be under one roof together without all hell breaking loose, don't you? We're all mature adults."

"Mature? You?" Mercedes laughed. "Boy, you had a fit the other night about someone's fashion line being pushed back a week."

"That was a nervous breakdown, not a fit." Kurt responded haughtily, holding his head up. "I can't help that I love Marc Jacobs. It's not like I have Alexander McQueen's line to look forward to anymore."

"I'm going to go and hang out with the dudes." Finn said, moving Rachel off of his lap and standing. "This conversation is going to get much more boring very fast."

"Excellent. We can have girl time—with Kurt of course—and talk about boys and _New York!_ " Rachel squealed, scooting back into her previous seat which was next to Kurt. "You have _got_ to come and visit us, Kurt. Washington Square Park is _amazing_ and right near NYU's campus."

"And BB Sandwich Bar is _amazing_!" Mercedes cut in. "The food—Cravings, Kurt. I get cravings for it _all_ the time. And there are so many vintage clothing shops right in the area. You'd love East Village."

"And the shopping in SoHo. It's just… amazing."

Kurt laughed a bit and stood, eager to hear _all_ about New York but also knowing that there was something else he had to do—something very important if anyone wanted to eat any time before the next morning. "I'll be back, guys. I want to make sure they aren't tearing into _all_ of the food."

"Hurry up! I want to tell you about my second run-in with Patti LuPone!"

* * *

Things had been going alright.

Of course it was a little weird. Being in a relatively small house with Kurt, Rachel, Mercedes, Finn, Puck, Quinn, David and Wes? The clashing personalities were almost enough to give Blaine a headache—but it was still going alright. Finn, Puck, David and Wes surprisingly got along together well. Puck and Wes were already pretty drunk and had done a rendition of Eye of the Tiger, which had caused David to choke on the soda he was drinking as he snorted in laughter. Blaine was sure the girls and Kurt were up to their own exciting things too. It had sounded like he had heard the beginning of a Diva Off a little while back, but the boys were being too loud to hear well enough for him to be sure.

"Lego Rock Band!" Wes cried out drunkenly in the middle of a quick moment of silence. "Let's kick the girls and Kurt out and play Lego Rock Band!"

"Lego?" David asked, eyebrow arching.

"Oh, it's totally fucking awesome!" Puck stood up and moved away from the table where they were all sitting.

"I think the girls and Kurt are waiting for Edward Cullen to be on that MTV show." Finn said, screwing his face up. "Dude, did you know they _sparkle_? Dude, what kind of vampire _sparkles_?"

"Blaine read those books." Wes giggled. "Didn't you, Blaine? Come on and drink, drink, drink." He began banging his fist on the table in time with his chants.

"I don't want to drink." Blaine said in a firm voice. Okay, maybe he really did. But drinking at a party where Rachel Berry was involved did not sound like a good idea. And things had been going so well for him and Kurt since finals were over. There was no stress. Everything had just been… _nice_. No arguments. Just cuddling, talking about random and completely stress-free things, and the occasional sex—maybe spending the _whole_ break with Kurt's family hadn't been the brightest idea where sex was involved, but hindsight was 20/20 and they had both already agreed to not stay the whole time on the _next_ winter break. That was besides the point, though. The point was that Blaine didn't want anything to ruin how well things were going—and they were going pretty damn well.

"He's more whipped than whipped cream." Wes declared dramatically. "Let it be known that I am five hundred and twenty six percent sure that he is only not drinking because his boyfriend has got him totally whipped cream."

"Totally whipped cream?" David asked, snorting.

"Wes, you might want to lay off of the alcohol for a few hours." Blaine sighed, rolling his eyes. "Alright?"

"Lego Rock Band!" Wes stood. "Don't you bitches try to take the microphone, it's mine!"

"The girls are watching TV." David tugged him back down with ease, more than used to Wes' drunken antics. He had gotten exceptionally well at handling Wes and Blaine under the influence of alcohol.

"We can take 'em." Puck slurred. "We'll just lock 'em in Kurt's room. Maybe they'll do sexy things to each other."

Blaine's stomach churned and he was pretty sure he threw up a little in his mouth.

"Look at his face!" Wes giggled, pointing at him. "C'mon, Blainers. Drunk time. Have a sip, have a sip!" He thrust his own plastic blue cup in Blaine's face.

"David, I'm going to take this moment to apologize for _every single time_ you have ever dealt with me when I was drunk." Blaine said, lowering Wes' hand. "Bad Wes."

"Blaine parties hard." David informed Finn and Puck. "He's actually about ten times worse than this when he's got sufficient amounts of alcohol in him."

"He got arrested." Wes chirped, taking another gulp of his drink. "Lego Rock Band, Anderson! Make it happen!"

"I'll go see if the girls are watching the TV." Blaine sighed and stood.

"Dude, you are _short_!" Puck announced, looking Blaine up and down with wide eyes. "Like, you're a pygmy!"

"I called him that once. Wait for it, wait for it." Wes giggled, gulping down more alcohol. "He has monologues for everything, guys!"

"Pygmy people are typically shorter than five feet." Blaine said and smacked Wes upside his drunken head when Wes mouthed the words with him. "And that is highly offensive."

"But you're super short!" Puck protested.

"Just go, Blaine." Finn snorted. "He'll only argue."

_This is going to be a long night_ , Blaine thought to himself as he made his way into the room separating the living room and the kitchen. He paused when he heard loud chattering, smiling a bit to himself. He saw David a lot and Wes some, but Kurt very rarely saw Mercedes, Rachel, and Quinn since they were all in college at NYU.

"I wish you were there with us, Kurt." Blaine heard Quinn sigh softly, and then what he heard next tore his heart in two.

"I know, me too." Kurt said quietly, but Blaine heard each word. His eyes widened in shock and he stood, feet glued to the floor. He knew he shouldn't stand and listen… but how could he _not_? And how could he stop the overwhelming guilt that flooded through him? It wasn't like he'd _asked_ Kurt to stay, but he hadn't exactly told him he should go either…

"You would _love_ it." Blaine heard Mercedes say as she launched into a discussion about a particularly good café that Quinn mentioned 'had Kurt's name all over it.'

"CCAD isn't all that bad." Kurt's voice was still very quiet. He hated that Kurt didn't sound as enthusiastic as the other girls did about NYU, and he really hated the fact that he now felt like he was holding Kurt back from something great, something he wanted.

"But NYU is just so _you_. You belong there." Rachel added.

Blaine stood for several more seconds before heading back into the kitchen and saying in a controlled and hopefully normal voice, "They're just talking. I think you all can play."

David released his hold on Wes and the Asian boy ran out the back door shrieking he'd brought everything they would need. Puck stumbled after him, letting out some very odd giggles. _I'm pretty sure those are very out of character for him_ , Blaine thought to himself. The whole scene probably would have been a lot funnier if he wasn't feeling so depressed and upset all of a sudden.

"I think I'm going to need to drink just to get through this." Finn muttered. "I _suck_ at Rock Band. You okay, dude?"

"Fine." Blaine said, taking a huge gulp of his Cream Soda in an attempt to ward off any more questions. Finn shrugged but Blaine was well aware that David was watching him carefully, trying to figure out if he was just in a quiet mood (which happened frequently) or if he was upset.

"Okay well I'm going to go set the TV up if the girls don't care." Finn shrugged again, looking unsure, and headed into the living room.

"What?" Blaine asked, a little more sharply than necessary, when David gave him a quizzical look.

David held his hands up in the air, as if surrendering. "Nothing, nothing."

* * *

"I wish you'd just tell me why you're being so quiet all of a sudden." Kurt said, following Blaine into the kitchen. He had been trying to get Blaine alone for the better part of two hours, but Blaine had practically attached himself to David's hip. It was hard to properly introduce Mercedes and David with Blaine in such proximity and Blaine was really starting to mess up Kurt's plan. At least, that's what he'd been annoyed about at first. Now he was just becoming worried. Had Blaine's parents called or something? He didn't know what else could have caused such a drastic attitude change in the older boy.

"I told you, I'm fine." Blaine sighed, grabbing a handful of chips.

Kurt grabbed his other arm gently. "No. You've had this incredibly forced smile on your face for two hours, Blaine. I'm sure other people can't tell and think you're happy, but I've gotten better at reading your faces and this isn't a happy one. What's wrong? Did Puck say something to you? I mean, he can say stupid stuff sometimes without thinking about it and—."

"Puck's been nice." Blaine muttered, looking down.

"Then what's wrong, babe?" Kurt sighed, moving his hand down and lacing their fingers together. "Do you feel sick?"

"I'm just… Kurt… I heard what you said."

Kurt's eyebrow went up and he looked at Blaine, mouth hanging open slightly. Then he said, almost a bit nervously, "What did I say? I didn't say anything bad. I don't know what you're talking about, Blaine."

"You said you wished you were at NYU." Blaine whispered, not looking up. Kurt could barely hear the words he spoke.

"When did I say—oh, I did—Wait… You weren't in the room when I said that, Blaine. Were you _listening to me_?" His initial reaction was confusion, after that realization, and then he felt himself becoming aggravated. He loved Blaine, he wouldn't have minded Blaine hearing him say that… but why was Blaine _spying_ on him? Maybe spying was a bit of an exaggeration, but Kurt didn't go around listening to Blaine's private conversations.

"I was coming to see if you all were watching the TV so they could play Rock Band." Blaine snapped, having to raise his voice over the cheers in the other room. "I just overheard it."

"Oh, and you just decided to hang around outside the door and listen to us? Is that required for checking to see if we were watching television or just an added bonus?" Kurt snapped back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I wasn't _listening to you_. I just happened to overhear what you were saying."

"If you weren't spying, why didn't you come in?"

"Spying?" Blaine exclaimed, actually taking a step back from him. "I wasn't _spying_ on anybody. It's not my fault I chose that minute to walk in."

"You didn't walk in! You stood in the hallway and listened!"

"Stop, stop." Blaine said in a hushed voice. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I didn't mean to listen. I just heard that and I started to feel guilty about CCAD and—."

"This conversation is not even happening." Kurt said, shaking his head. "Blaine, no. Don't make this bigger than it needs to be. This is _nothing_. Is that why you're upset?"

"Yes! You're going to a school you don't like, you refuse to meet anyone, you're stressed out _all_ of the time and this break has been amazing, Kurt, it really has. But it's going to end soon and you're going to go back to being unhappy and I'm going to go back to being unhappy because you're unhappy!" Blaine said, hazel eyes big and upset.

Kurt's assumptions were right. He was really working himself up over Kurt's comment—but that comment had truly been _nothing_. Did he wish he was at New York? Sometimes, yeah. But not to the point where he was _unhappy_ about it. He was being conversational, that was all. He _loved_ living alone with Blaine.

"Blaine, I'm not unhappy. CCAD is just very competitive and if I was in design at NYU it would be even _more_ competitive. I get stressed out because I have so much work due and I'd probably have just as much work due there, if not more." Kurt explained in a gentle voice. "I'm not unhappy. I like CCAD. I like Cincinnati and I like living with you. Okay?"

"I—Just—Are you sure, Kurt?" Blaine said, looking at the wall right next to Kurt instead of directly at his boyfriend. His foot was jiggling anxiously and he bit his lip a bit like he typically did when stressed out.

"Yes. I am sure." Kurt nodded and then added, "I'm still not very pleased you were listening in on my conversation though, Blaine."

"I wasn't—I just—." Blaine trailed off and just walked out of the room.

Kurt's jaw dropped a bit and then he went into the living room and asked sharply, "Where did Blaine go?"

Normally he would have been delighted to see Mercedes and David in the corner of the room deep in conversation and both looking genuinely happy, but there was no time for that.

"Upstairs, dude." Finn called without even looking up from Rock Band.

Kurt ran up the stairs and pushed the bedroom door open. "What? Do you really want to start a fight right now, Blaine?"

"You wish you were in New York!" Blaine said in a hushed voice, looking sad and defeated. "Kurt, you should withdraw from CCAD and start up there next year. You—."

" _I don't want to go to NYU!_ " Kurt exclaimed, much louder than entirely necessary. "I want to stay in Cincinnati with you! I chose to stay with you!"

"If I wasn't here, you'd be at NYU with your friends!" Blaine shouted.

There was a stunned silence in the room and it took Kurt several seconds to recover from the shock. They were not a couple that yelled. _Blaine_ was not a person who yelled. "And if I wasn't here, you'd be off playing soccer for Santa Barbara or Duke or wherever else offered you a free ride! You'd be getting picked for a pro team!"

"I didn't want to play soccer professionally! I want an English major so I can go to law school! I have always wanted to be a lawyer! Not a soccer player!" Blaine's voice only rose. "I don't want you to hate me because I'm holding you back!"

"You're telling me if we hadn't met in your senior year that you wouldn't be at Santa Barbara right now?" Kurt asked very quietly, blue eyes staring into Blaine's hazel ones.

Blaine hesitated and licked his lips nervously. "I… I probably would be. But only to please my family. I never wanted to play pro soccer. Did I assume I'd go to college on a soccer scholarship and get my undergrad that way? Yes. But then I met you and everything changed."

"Fine." Kurt said. "Did I assume I'd go to college at NYU with Mercedes and Rachel? Yes. But then _I_ met _you_ and everything changed."

"Don't use my own words against me." Blaine pleaded. "Kurt, please… go to NYU. I'll wait for you."

" _No_. I want to be at CCAD with you, Blaine. I want to be with you, with my family, near Melody. I wouldn't go to NYU if you paid me. Just like you wouldn't go to Santa Barbara. Blaine, just let this go. Okay? Let's go down there and sit back on the couch and watch Puck and Wes make idiots out of their drunken selves and watch David and Mercedes fall in love while Finn plays Rock Band with two drunk idiots and Rachel and Quinn force nice talk. Okay? Really, we should get out there just so they don't kill each other."

"But—."

"End of discussion." Kurt grabbed his hand and dragged him downstairs. The boys didn't look up from Rock Band, Mercedes and David glanced over but soon continued their conversation, and both Quinn and Rachel looked _extremely_ pleased to see them. Kurt sat on the couch, fingers still linked with Blaine's, and plastered a rather convincing smile on his face. "Where were we, Rachel? Something about your show, I think?"

"The director is terrific, she really is. And the girl who plays the lead role… Well, of course I'm better than her, but everyone has to start at the bottom, you know? It's only a matter of time before _I'm_ the lead. My dads will of course be coming for the show, even though I play a minor role. It's all a stepping stone. I hope Finn will come with them. They really like Finn." Rachel said very quickly, looking excited. "Who did you say your friends were again, Blaine?"

"Wes and David." Blaine mumbled, pointing them each out and still looking rather sulky.

"Well David is charming, but Wes acts like he belongs in a zoo."

"Rachel!" Both Kurt and Quinn gasped at the same time.

"Yeah, well, what planet are you from? They can have you back." Blaine mumbled, but only loud enough for Kurt to hear. He winced when Kurt elbowed his side. "Ouch!"

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked, looking concerned.

"That depends on your definition of okay." Blaine responded as he stood and went to join Wes, Puck, and Finn at the television.

"Don't worry, Quinn. It's probably my presence. See, we went on a date a few years ago and had a lovely time. Clearly he's still attracted to me and is afraid if we're on friendly terms he'll be tempted to act on those urges." Rachel said cheerfully.

"Oh no. I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that you said his friend belonged in a zoo." Quinn said slowly, in her sweet voice, as Wes let out a loud whoop and fell over his own feet.

The three fell into an awkward silence. Quinn looked annoyed at being so close to Rachel, Rachel was staring at the four boys almost curiously, and Kurt was too annoyed with Rachel's last comment about Blaine to say anything nice. What was supposed to be a nice night with friends was turning into a terrible night for anyone who wasn't drunk, in the process of falling in like, or Finn (who seemed to find Puck and Wes' drunken antics hilarious, even if he had yet to drink himself).

Several very long minutes later Blaine stood and made his way back over, hesitating anxiously. Finally he sat back down next to Kurt.

"They're like animals." Kurt said softly as Wes and Puck began to wrestle on the ground, each of them fighting for the microphone.

"See? It's like they belong in a zoo." Rachel chirped. "My dads never acted like that and Finn doesn't act like that. I realize I don't have that much experience in how guys are supposed to act, but—."

Kurt tuned her out, turning his attention to Blaine who was looking very pitiful. "Blaine, stop it."

"Stop what?"

"This." Kurt gestured at him. "Don't be upset."

"Are you sure you're fine with… this?"

"Damn it." Kurt moaned, standing and grabbing his hand. "Quinn, make sure they don't stick that mic stand through someone's head, okay?"

"Alright." Quinn said softly, watching them head into the kitchen.

"Kurt, it's okay if you want to go to NYU. I won't be upset. I don't want to hold you back. I just want you to be happy."

Kurt raised his hand up to stop him, feeling himself becoming angrier. "The only thing that is making me upset about it, _Blaine_ , is you bringing it up every five minutes. I like CCAD. I like the professors, I like the work, I like that I can go to CCAD and still sleep with you every night! That is worth more than NYU to me, alright? Yes, I would _love_ to be in New York right now. Yes, it was a dream. But you're what I want. And you're here, in Ohio. And that's where I'm staying."

"That was all you had to say." Blaine sighed.

"I did say it. You just wouldn't listen." Kurt moved past him and grabbed a bottle of alcohol off of the table, not even looking to see what kind it was, and then waltzed out of the room without another word, leaving Blaine looking not only pitiful but also very confused.

_Great going. Maybe I should just go upstairs and go to bed before I make our lives even more difficult_ , he thought to himself. This probably would have been the wise thing to do, but instead he went back into the living room and rejoined the boys playing Rock Band. It was no longer Rock Band, however. It was more like Puck and Wes screaming into the same microphone while Finn dozed with his head on the drum set and David held down all of the buttons on the keyboard, which the television was _definitely_ not appreciative of.

Blaine dramatically plopped onto the floor and looked up at David, sticking his lower lip out. "I made an uh oh."

"I think everyone heard as much when you and Kurt were upstairs earlier." David sighed, pushing the keyboard aside and scooting onto the floor with him.

"I AM IRON MAN, DUN DUN DUN DUN, WHATEVER WORDS ARE NEXT!" Wes shrieked, throwing himself onto the floor over them. "Drunk Blaine yet? Blaine drunk yet? Yet Blaine drunk?"

"Blaine is not drunk." David said pushing him into a sitting position. "And I think you would do well to cease drinking yourself."

"I'm smart and sexy, David. Girls love it when you drink. Girls also like it when you—hey, Blaine, remember that time you walked in on me and that girl having sex? Was it sexy?" Wes slurred, moving onto Blaine's lap and pressing his forehead against Blaine's.

Blaine leaned back, looking at David. "Help?"

"Wes, you're making Blaine uncomfortable."

"He likes when guys sit on him." Wes giggled. "When you and Kurt have sex, does he ride you? I bet not. I bet you two… I bet… Hey, Kurt! Hi, Kurt!" He began fiercely waving and Blaine silently thanked God that Finn was too preoccupied with Puck to pay attention to his Asian friend's drunk rambling. All he needed was Finn realizing they did indeed have sex. He wasn't looking forward to that. He had a feeling it would put a hamper on their friendship.

"Wes, c'mon." Blaine sighed, standing and tugging his friend up.

"Where are we going, Blaine?" Wes asked cheerfully, leaning against him.

"To meet a girl." Blaine lied, dragging him upstairs. He made his way into his and Kurt's room.

"Where is she?" Wes asked in what ended up being a loud whisper.

"She's there, on the bed. Crawl on in, okay?"

Wes climbed onto the bed. "I don't see a girl, Blaine."

"You have to lie down." Blaine sighed.

Wes moved himself into a laying position and almost immediately let out a snore.

"Do I feel bad about this? Not one bit." Blaine turned the bedroom light off and made his way downstairs, fairly confident that Wes hadn't had enough alcohol to put him in danger of throwing up in his sleep and dying. Either way, he'd check on him every few minutes just to make sure.

"I don't get why he wouldn't just _let it go_!" Kurt was saying loudly, sounding… not quite right. Granted Blaine had never been around Kurt drunk before, but he could tell that Kurt was definitely not entirely sober. "I should be able to decide what I do with my life, where I want to go to school. It's not just about _him_ , Mercedes. Damn him. It's _my_ decision. He just won't let it go!"

"I think you're tipsy, annoyed, and upset." Mercedes sighed. "I thought we agreed when you were sixteen that we weren't having anymore alcohol, remember? Put that down."

"I just had one." Kurt scoffed. "Why does he have to upset me? Haven't I been through enough, Mercedes? And he wants to make it worse? I miss you guys!"

"Boy, what have you been through lately that hasn't been your fault? We all get that you're having a hard time after what happened senior year but you can't blame that on everything. You've got to just let it go." Mercedes said, sounding rather impatient. "At least you have someone that cares about what you want."

Kurt let out several loud scoffs and then fell eerily silent.

Blaine made his way into the living room, avoiding looking at Kurt and taking a seat next to David. "Can we go outside and talk?"

"Sure." David nodded and instantly stood up, following Blaine not outside but into the kitchen. He sat at the table and gestured at the seat next to him. "What's wrong? You've got sad Blaine face on."

Blaine sighed and sat down, putting his elbows up on the table and rested his chin in the palms of his hands. "I already told you. I made an uh-oh."

"How about we speak from an adult point of view and not a toddler's, firstly?" David prompted. "How did you make the love of your life mad this time, Blaine? Care to elaborate?"

"I overheard him talking about how he wishes he'd gone to NYU when I was going to… when I was going to see if they were using the television. I can't tell if he's mad I was listening to him or if he's mad that I keep bringing it up." Blaine said miserably. "It's not like I was sneaking around or anything. I just heard it and… froze. It's not like I asked him to stay, you know? Before any real discussion about college came up, I told him he _should_ go. But now I feel like he wants to go and he isn't because of me and that isn't fair."

"Kurt's a big boy. Kurt can decide where he wants to go to school."

"Not if he's going to make the wrong decision and resent me." Blaine mumbled. "But every time I bring it up, he gets even madder."

"Then maybe you shouldn't bring it up? If it's only going to upset him… then why force him to talk about it? Getting mad doesn't mean he resents you. It mans he doesn't want it brought up. How many times did you _ask_ him?"

Blaine groaned and buried his face in his hands. "A lot, I guess. I just feel really guilty and I don't want him to hate me later on…"

"You didn't ask Kurt to not go to… NYU, was it? He can't be mad at you for something you didn't do." David ruffled his hair. "You have an awful habit of making something out of nothing, Anderson. It's endearing and all, don't get me wrong. It's very aw-worthy… but you can't beat yourself up over something that is basically nonexistent. Don't make problems for yourself. Wait for them to happen and _then_ try to fix them."

"Yeah well I already caused the problem and now Kurt's pissed at me." Blaine gestured towards the kitchen. "And he's freaking _drinking_? Kurt doesn't _drink_. He's just being dramatic. That's all the boy is. Drama, drama, drama, drama, drama."

David did not respond, just listened to his friend speak. It took Blaine several minuets to calm himself down, although he mainly repeated the same things several times—that he was afraid Kurt resented him, he was afraid Kurt would resent him later on if he didn't already, that Kurt was too dramatic, that at least he was a better spy than Kurt, and that he really needed to learn to keep his mouth shut. When he finally fell silent, David said very cheerfully, "Now that that's done and you've ranted, I think you should go and make up with Kurt. It's about to be New Years and wasn't he going on about how it was going to be your first New Years Kiss?"

"New Years Kiss, New Years Shmiss." Blaine grumbled as he stood. "Thanks for listening to me, David."

"You know I'm here for you to talk to, Blaine." David sighed. "I'm going to go check on my other child and make sure he's not drowned in a puddle of vomit."

"Thanks for that image. I guess I'll go try to put a stopper in Kurt's fit now then." Blaine sighed. "Although at this point I think I'd rather just go up to bed and cuddle with the drunk Asian."

"Go make up with your boyfriend." David said, pointing in the direction of the living room. "I'd suggest you not tell him the drunken Asian is in his bed until you've made up, though. I can't imagine that'd be the best way to begin the conversation."

"Can't we just make up tomorrow when he's less tipsy?"

" _Anderson…_ "

"Fine, fine." Blaine noisily pushed the chair into the table simply for dramatic effect and then made his way straight into the living room before he could chicken out. He didn't let his feet stop until he had reached Kurt, who still looked like he was trying to figure out whether or not Mercedes had _really_ told him to get over what happened more than a year ago. As soon as Blaine reached him, the younger boy looked at him with big blue eyes.

"Can I sit with you?" Blaine asked softly, shifting his weight between each leg anxiously as he awaited his boyfriend's answer.

"I'll be over there." Mercedes said pointing in the corner of the room where David was once again seated. She stood and quietly made her way over.

"They're going to get together, you know?" Kurt sighed in a resigned sort of way, scooting over to make room for Blaine.

"Maybe it will be good for them." Blaine sighed himself as he sat down, side pressed to Kurt's side. He waited several seconds and, once he was sure Kurt wasn't going to resume the argument, slid his arm around Kurt's thin waist. "Kurt… Please don't be mad at me, okay? I didn't mean to upset you."

"But you did." Kurt said loudly, but Blaine thought it was more from alcohol consumption than anything else. "And I'm having a hard time _adjusting_." His nose scrunched up.

His initial reaction was to remind him of what Mercedes had _just_ said. Blaine knew that it was difficult to deal with what Kurt had gone through the October before last… but it was the _October before last_. The trial was over, nothing more could be done. _Nothing_. So, as insensitive as it may have sounded… Kurt needed to attempt to move on. It wasn't even that Kurt was always bothered by it. It just seemed like anytime that something stressful arose, it came back up. That wasn't the way things worked. At least not in _Blaine's_ world.

"Kurt…. You've got to stop with that. You can only do that for so long. It was more than a year ago, it—."

"I'm not talking about that!" Kurt exclaimed, throwing his hands dramatically into the air. "I'm talking about _everything_. I'm not—I'm just—I didn't want to fight! I don't want to be this!"

"Be what?" Blaine whispered, rubbing small circles on his back in an attempt to calm him down.

"I want to be with _you_." Kurt poked him hard in the chest, still speaking loudly. "Not at New York. With you. In—In our home with the puppy and your dumb fishie cup. Okay? Okay, Blaine?"

"Alright, Kurt." Blaine nodded, praying he never had to deal with a less-than-sober-but-not-quite-drunk Kurt Hummel again. "Okay. I'm sorry. I just want you to be happy."

"'M happy." Kurt moved onto his lap, kicking him several times in the process and almost elbowing his nose.'M happy with sexy Blaine."

"It's 11:58!" Finn suddenly called out, shutting the game off and turning the television to MTV.

"Hey, we were totally winning!" Puck said. "We were pwning, man!"

Blaine wrapped his arms tighter around his boyfriend, whom was pressed close still. The clock on the television was taking forever to reach midnight.

"Sorry." Kurt mumbled tiredly in his ear, arms going around Blaine's neck.

"I'm sorry too." Blaine whispered back, hugging him even tighter.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Quinn, Puck, Mercedes, and David cried out as Rachel and Finn began to make out.

Kurt pressed his lips against Blaine's, hands moving to hold Blaine's head in place. Blaine had no intentions of pulling away from the kiss, however, and pulled his boyfriend even closer.

It seemed as thought several minutes pulled away before Kurt finally pulled away. He was very still, eyes still closed, for a few seconds before he opened his blue eyes and blinked slowly. "Happy New Year, Blaine."

"Happy New Year, Kurt." Blaine smiled a bit.

"Another first." Kurt giggled and pressed their noses together. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kurt. Even if you're a little bipolar when you're tipsy."

His younger boyfriend just let out several more giggles, making Blaine wonder if he'd even understood a word he'd said. Blaine had more important things to worry about, though. Like where he was going to put his boyfriend, whose eyes were already drooping, to bed. Clearly any New Years party next year would have to be in a much bigger house.


	25. Chapter 25

" _What_?"

Blaine looked up from his Anthropology notes two weeks later, looking extremely confused after hearing his boyfriend's near shriek. "Kurt?"

" _Is he joking?_ No, really. _Is he joking_?"

"Kurt, what's going on?" Blaine sighed softly and shut his textbook. He hadn't wanted to read about evolution anyway. The truth of the matter was, though, that Blaine was getting slightly frustrated. Kurt's classes lasted even later this semester and on the days that Kurt didn't get out of class at 9:30 at night, he tended to stay later anyway to "get work done in the studio." Perhaps this wouldn't have bothered him so much if he hadn't worked his schedule out to only have class on Tuesdays and Thursdays… but it still did. It wasn't like he'd done his schedule that way for the sole purpose of spending time with Kurt, he had really done it because all of the driving back and forth was killing both his wallet and his legs, but he had hoped that there would be more quality time with his boyfriend and not less.

"Azari has me working on a project with freaking _Alec Davis_. What is he playing at? Firstly, we are the best two in the class which gives us an unfair advantage. Secondly, our tastes are _completely different_. And thirdly, _I do not like him_! How am I supposed to work with a partner anyway? I can barely get the work done on my own, but to throw someone else I have to watch into the equation too?" Kurt ranted, his blue eyes wide. "I'm already staying late until almost eleven once a week for a class and sometimes twice a week just to keep my head over water! And it's only the first full week! Last week barely counts because it started Wednesday! I don't have the energy to put up with _Alec Davis_. What kind of a name is Alec anyway? A stupid name, that's what kind!"

"Okay." Blaine said quickly, dragging Kurt away from the computer screen. "Back away from the computer before you throw it into a wall. Calm down, come on."

"I don't have time to calm down, Blaine. I've got two sketches to complete and now I have to get in touch with _Jerkface_ and—." Kurt rambled as his boyfriend pulled him into their small kitchen. They did not come to a stop until they reached the refrigerator and Blaine tuned Kurt out while he opened their almost empty fridge to pull out a new cheesecake.

He busied himself with cutting Kurt a slice, only putting a halt to the rambling when he pushed the plate of cheesecake into the younger boy's hands. After the plate was secure in Kurt's hands, he spoke in a very clear and firm voice as he did each time that Kurt stressed out about school. "Don't freak out. It's going to be okay, alright? Sit down and rant. Rant your heart out and then go back to your work."

Kurt grabbed a spoon and bit into his cheesecake, scowling. After two or three bites he heaved a huge sigh and his face slowly returned to its normal pale shade of white. "Sorry. You're right. I think I just freaked out. Oh God, I was just hoping it was anyone but _him_."

"Maybe it will be good for you to be partners with someone you don't like. If you're going to make it, you'll have to work with annoying people." Blaine suggested. He didn't know what exactly to say since he couldn't relate, but he knew he had to say _something_ in an attempt to make the younger boy feel better and that was the only thing he could think of. He had no idea if it would help at all, but what else could he really do? He rethought the words he had just said over and then said, "And people who have different tastes. Besides, usually you'd _love_ to have an advantage over someone. Where is that mindset now?"

"But our styles are completely different." Kurt said softly, shaking his head.

"It could be cool." Blaine shrugged, glad his boyfriend's voice was no longer nearing hysterical. "Maybe your design will… I don't know what I'm trying to say. Maybe seeing how someone else does stuff will give you new ways to make your own stuff better." He then added quickly, "Not that your stuff isn't good. I love looking through your sketchbooks. You're already _really_ good. But maybe you two will learn something. "

Kurt took a deep breath and leaned back against the kitchen counter. The way he saw it, he had two options. He could either sit and whine over something he couldn't change or he could accept it, make the best of it, and move on. So he nodded, deciding to take the more adult road. "Yeah. Maybe… Maybe he can show me how he does those really detailed sketches. His details are crazy good. And maybe I can show him the proper way to sew. I saw him in the studio the other night and he was not having much luck."

Blaine's eyes widened in shock. He had been expecting a much more prolonged freak out from his younger boyfriend and the fact that he had put a stopper in it so quickly made him feel rather proud of himself. Clearly he had gotten better at handling the Kurt freak outs and that made him feel very accomplished. There was just something about knowing he was the only one that could swoop in and make Kurt feel better when he was in the process of a meltdown. And, according to Burt, not many people could calm Kurt down when he got like that. The fits had arisen more often since Kurt had started CCAD, and it seemed that Blaine was able to end each one sooner than the one before. Unfortunately, though, he'd had a lot of practice calming Kurt down in the past six months and he had a feeling that was why he'd discovered this new talent. "Oh! Yeah, you're totally right. See? He can teach you something and you can teach him something!" He mentally added, _And you can finish your sketch early and we can have sex. And then, when you're working on your project, there will be two people working… meaning you have to only do half the work… and the rest of that time we can spend having sex…_

"Thanks for my cheesecake." Kurt said, giving him a small smile. "I guess we need to take stock in this stuff don't we?"

"I would say so. It's about the only sugary junk food I can get you to eat." Blaine nodded eagerly and then lowered his voice. "But really, Kurt… Don't worry about it. Just think about the fact that there'll be less work to do."

"I don't think it's going to work that way, Blaine." Kurt finished his cheesecake and mumbled quietly, "I'm still not very excited about this, even if I do feel a bit better."

"It'll be good for you." Blaine repeated, in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

His boyfriend scowled again briefly and then nodded, looking around their spotless kitchen. "It's so much cleaner around here now that you only go to campus two days a week. It looks _really_ good, Blaine. Even I couldn't keep the house this clean when it was just Dad and I."

"Thank God. I can't handle messy and it was getting pretty bad at the end of last semester. It was driving me crazy." Blaine sighed softly. He had spent all day crazily cleaning the entire house. Because he was on campus all five days last semester and constantly tired and exhausted, it had been extremely hard to keep up with the housework. He had really dropped the ball last semester but was determined to keep the apartment clean this time around. Mainly for his sanity, which was lacking anyway. "We need a big spoon organizer; I can barely close that drawer anymore."

"I swear we got one at Bed, Bath, and Beyond when we got your toothbrush cup with your little fish friends… Now that you mention it, though, a paper towel holder would be nice too and—oh god. Shut up."

"Huh?" Blaine looked at him, alarmed.

"We are not talking about spoon organizers and paper towel holders. We sound like Dad and Carole." Kurt gasped. "Blaine, what is this _doing_ to us? Come on, quick! College topic! One, two, three, go!"

"Rent! Rent! There is going to be a performance of Rent at the Lexington Opera House! Let's go on Friday! Let's go!" Blaine said quickly.

"Yes, and maybe we can go to a bar for—nope, not that old yet. Maybe we can go bowling! No, that's disgusting." Kurt scrunched his nose up and looked thoughtful, a sign he was wracking his brain to think of an appropriate thing for them to talk about or do. "What do college kids do?"

"Uhm… well, they party… and they party…" Blaine said slowly. "And they have loads and loads of _sex_."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "We had sex, like, four times yesterday."

"Five." Blaine said smugly, standing up a little straighter. "Think we could get out of dinner with your parents? Do you think you'll be _able_ to have a whole day free?"

"Today's Monday…" Kurt said thoughtfully, staring ahead. "Thursday I've got a design due… and next Monday I've got something due… I guess the only thing would be if that's the only day _Jerkface_ can meet to work on our project. He's in my History of Fashion class tomorrow so I'll talk to him."

"How many classes do you _have_ with him? Are you in this many classes with all of the kids?"

"He's the same year as me. It kind of ends up being like that. There are a few kids I have a lot of classes with. It really just depends on the order you want to take them in, I guess… I've just been looking for what fits and doesn't give me long gaps… He's in Graphic Design Concepts…" Kurt held up a finger for each class he listed. "History of Fashion, Fashion Illustration and… Design. So I see him every day."

"I thought you already had Fashion Illustration with him?" Blaine questioned.

"Fashion Illustration 1 and 2." Kurt said. "This one's more in depth, a lot more work."

"Ah… Did you end up taking that water color class?"

Kurt snickered a bit, looking like a mischievous child. "Yes. I don't take it very seriously though. I had it today for the first time and I just kept making different types of rainbows and flowers. Well, he _did_ say we could do whatever we wanted."

"Kurt!" Blaine laughed, amazed at how adorable Kurt could be sometimes. T was an ongoing war between the two to determine which boy was more adorable, but Blaine was pretty sure Kurt was the winner."You're paying all that money to do water color? And make rainbows and flowers? At least make something cool like aliens or dinosaurs!"

"Yeah, because that's so much better!" Kurt laughed also, looking much happier and more at ease than he had a few minutes before. "You just want to hang it on the fridge with your stickers."

"That sticker book is _awesome_ and was only $8.00. Do you know how many stickers are in that thing, Kurt? Like, a lot! And they're all cool. There are flowers and farm animals and inspiring messages and clouds and ice creams. My professor agrees. I've been putting them on all of my math assignments before I hand them in."

"You have not, shut up." Kurt snorted.

"Nope! Look!" Blaine went to his bag and pulled out several math assignments. "See? Look at her comments! She likes my stickers. She says they motivate me."

"She probably thinks you're crazy because you're in college putting stickers on your homework." Kurt responded, but he was smiling. "Kindergarteners _get_ stickers on their homework and freak out. Blaine Anderson puts stickers on his own college assignments and freaks out."

"Oh, not just mine." Blaine said, grinning with childish delight. "There are seven other kids in the class. I give them stickers too."

"You're one of those students that answers every question and has long winded conversations with the professors in the middle of class aren't you?" Kurt questioned, shaking his head.

"It motivates me!" Blaine whined dramatically, his smile turning into a pout. "Yes, I am a student who is active in class participation. There is nothing wrong with that, Kurt."

"Teacher's pet." Kurt muttered teasingly.

"Oooh, I better back down. The Dodge Ball Princess might—ah! Kurt! You can't just jump on me like that, what if I'd dropped you and we both fell and cracked our heads open and bled to death?" Blaine gasped, stumbling and almost toppling to the ground when Kurt hopped into his arms, legs going around his waist.

"Then I'd have died in your arms." The younger boy said cheerfully, tilting his head. "It would have been very romantic, don't you think?"

"It wouldn't be very romantic if we were dead."

"Shut up and kiss me."

* * *

"So this is where you spent all of your free time your first semester here?" Kurt questioned four days later, getting out of Blaine's BMW and gently closing the door. "It's very… bright."

"It's _incredible_." Blaine corrected, getting out of the car himself and much less gently closing his own door. He wrapped his jacket tighter around himself and went to the other side of the car, grabbing his younger boyfriend's hand. "Kurt Hummel, welcome to Third Street stuff. Home of the best coffee—yes, even better than the Lima Bean. Their turkey and cheese bagels are excellent too but I wouldn't suggest eating them with any sort of coffee or hot drink because that would probably be nasty."

Kurt squeezed his hand and then let their hands fall apart, instead wrapping his arm around Blaine who snuggled into his side. "Are there even paintings and stuff on those tables? That is _so neat_. And the trash cans!"

"Everything has paintings and art and poetry and pictures all over it." Blaine nodded. "And there is a shop connected to it too. A local artist owns it. They either strip the tables or get new tables once a year, though, and people decorate them again."

"Wait… Are they allowed to? And not just the artist?" Kurt questioned, looking more carefully at the painted tables.

"Of course they are. When it's hot people just come out and draw or paint or write on stuff. There's always chalk around too so people draw on the ground too. It's really cool. It's what makes this place so neat! It's just so artsy!" Blaine explained, rubbing his hands together in an attempt to keep them warm. He really needed to remember to wear gloves.

Kurt snorted as they entered the café and shop. "It sounds like that's the point, doesn't it?"

"Hey, Anderson!" A tall guy with dreads said from behind the counter, waving. "Just let us know when you're ready to order."

"Hey! Alright, thanks." Blaine waved back and returned his attention to Kurt. "A tad sassy today, are we, my love?"

"Aren't I always?" Kurt asked, smiling sweetly. "Just be glad we aren't fighting. Then I'd be a little more than a tad sassy."

"Well thank goodness for that." Blaine laughed and gestured towards one of the tables. This one in particular was bright purple mostly, with other bright colors mixed in with random designs. The chairs were painted completely different colors but something about it, something about the entire café actually, just made it _work_. It was just as Blaine had promised—everything was very artsy with random paintings, drawings, and words all over it. There were even magnetic words that people had arranged into sentences—some entirely random and others extremely deep and thoughtful.

Kurt could instantly see why his boyfriend would have spent so much free time here. He smiled and took his seat at the table, looking around the café. There was so much to look at, though, and it was hard to find something to zoom in on. Eventually his eyes landed on the ceiling and he spent several minutes looking at the painted hip-like wooden skulls that hung from the ceiling. He vaguely heard Blaine getting up and going to order for them, but didn't stray his attention from each and every individual skull.

Blaine glanced up too after sitting next to him as opposed to across from him, grinning goofily. It was very evident that he was happy to have Kurt there with him and to be able to talk about the things about his Lexington life. And Kurt was happy to be there because Blaine was happy to have him there. It was kind of nice to see what things were like in Kentucky, what made Blaine like Lexington so much. He turned his attention back to Blaine as the boy began to speak. "The owner makes them. You can buy them. Some of them are expensive though, but they're really neat… Some of them are a little freaky though… like that one in the corner. No one's buying it, I guess. It's been there since I started at UK."

Kurt rested his leg against Blaine's and laid his head on Blaine's shoulder. "I can see why you like it here in some odd kind of way."

"I like odd things." Blaine smirked and kissed the top of his head. They sat that way, close to snuggling but not quite there, at the table until their drinks were done. When Blaine had carried them over he sat down, as close as possible without actually snuggling again, and smiled. "We shouldn't take too long. We'll want to leave early to find a parking spot downtown."

"But your school is downtown and you've got a parking pass?" Kurt asked, pulling his drink towards him and taking a sip. "This is _amazing_!"

The tall guy behind the counter with long dreads threw his hands triumphantly into the air, looking rather pleased with himself.

"They like it when new people like the drinks." Blaine laughed and then shook his head. "And we can't park downtown. My parking pass is for Commonwealth Stadium. Busses pick you up and drop you off there because it's too long of a walk. Really only professors and commuters get parking passes on the actual campus. You saw how huge UK was the last time you were here. There are places I can park on weekends, but I think it's too early for me to park there now and I really don't want to risk getting a ticket on campus."

"Yeah and I also saw _tons_ of parking lots… and you're a commuter. Shouldn't you have a pass for a little closer? At CCAD, commuters get closer parking."

"I may have forgotten to register early for the commuter pass." The older boy admitted sheepishly. "It's okay. The busses aren't so bad."

"It's a _bus_." Kurt's nose scrunched up. "A public transportation busses. Do you know who rides those busses? Who sits in that seat before you?:

Blaine laughed loudly after drinking some of his drink. "It's a good thing you didn't go to a typical college, Kurt. You're _way_ too stuck in your way of things."

"Is that a compliment or are you trying to offend me?" Kurt took a sip of his own drink, waiting for an answer that he didn't get. "Hey! That's not very nice!"

"All I'm saying is you can be a little… uhm…" Blaine looked a little embarrassed. He had no one to blame but himself though for bringing up the conversation. "You're just used to a different way of life, I guess. You got a brand new Lincoln Navigator on your sixteenth birthday, you spend hundreds of dollars on one sweater or hat, you have a perfectly good laptop but bought a tablet for school, you think stores like Old Navy and riding busses to school are too good for you."

"I have nothing _against_ Old Navy. I just wish you'd shop other places too. And I rode a bus to school until I got my Lincoln Navigator and it was _terrible_." Kurt defended himself, not sure if this was a teasing discussion or something more. "And I needed that tablet for the application for my class… and yes, I should spend less on clothes… but I just don't think that's going to happen any time soon."

Blaine kissed the top of his head again. "Remind me to thank your dad again for spoiling you, my love."

Kurt rolled his eyes and finished up his hot chocolate. "That was really good. I thought you were building it up to be better than it was. You get excited about things and do that, you know."

Blaine finished his own and carried them to the sink before waving to the barista and leading Kurt from the building. "I would never exaggerate anything coffee or hot chocolate related, Kurt. They are sacred drinks."

"Excuse me." Kurt laughed, buttoning his jacket even though they were already at the car. Blaine opened his car door and Kurt kissed him suddenly, eyes twinkling.

"Oh, hello there." Blaine pulled away, smirking.

"Hello." The younger boy smiled. "I'm glad you had this amazing idea."

"I'm just full of them." Blaine shrugged in a carefree way and grinned even more. "Go on and get in the car, Kurtsie."

"Kurtsie is reserved for Mercedes and my aunts." Kurt said sternly, holding up a finger. "No Kurtsie for Blaine."

"You let Wes call you Kurtsie on my birthday." Blaine pointed out.

"Wes is just Wes."

"Can't I be just Blaine?"

"Get in the car." Kurt laughed, closing the door and leaning over to push the driver's door open.

"You always ruin my fun." Blaine pouted as he got into his car and turned it on. "You must not like me very much."

"Nope. Only a little bit." The younger boy said cheerfully, kissing his cheek. "And what bit I do like you is mostly your hair."

Blaine just let out a loud laugh and shook his head as he started the car, silently thanking whatever God there was that he had his head of curls. It was funny that he'd spent almost every day of his life complaining about his unruly and generally uncooperative hair until the one day at Dalton that Kurt had seen his hair—his un-gelled and curly hair—and had stared at him in utter shock for at least an entire minute and a half, not even able to speak. Maybe curls weren't that bad after all.

* * *

"You can sleep if you want. I won't be too upset." Blaine said several hours later. They had just made it back onto the highway after seeing the local production of Rent and he, of course, was driving. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kurt's driving. Kurt was just a little bit more… reckless than Blaine was. He tended to think any car smaller or less costly than his had no place on the road and tended to cut them off frequently. Of course Kurt would swear up and down he hadn't cut them off, but they both knew what had _really_ happened. (And that was that Kurt had cut them off.)

"I'm not sleepy." Kurt yawned, turning the heat in Blaine's car down. "Mmh, first it was barely working and now Dad made it so it works too well. Heat makes me sleepy."

"Breathing makes you sleepy." Blaine snorted.

Kurt opened his mouth, presumably to make a witty retort, but soon closed it and shrugged, pulling his feet onto the seat and curling in a sort of ball.

"Oh no. Come on, come on. You can't just leave me hanging. That was _begging_ for a sassy Kurt moment." Blaine said, gesturing.

"Sorry. _Why is this loser in front of you driving so damn slow?_ " Kurt exclaimed, sitting up straight again pointing ahead.

"Because there would be a sheriff in an undercover car right in front of him." Blaine shrugged. "They're going the speed limit."

"That's an Avenger." Kurt argued. "Not a stupid undercover car."

"Ah, but Kentucky has moved on from the dumb white undercover cars. Now they have different models in different colors. You know why?" There was a tone of sweetness in Blaine's voice that could only signify that there was an insult to follow.

Kurt, who was apparently too tired to have caught on, just scoffed. "Why? That's dumb."

"To catch people like you who speed when they don't see police cars."

Kurt just rolled his eyes and leaned back against the seat, kicking off his shoes. "I don't speed when I don't see police cars. I speed when I see them too. They just always give me a warning." He flashed an innocent smile in his boyfriend's direction. "They don't want to make me cry."

"I wish we could all be so lucky." Blaine sighed a bit, almost distractedly. "What are your plans for tomorrow? Meeting _Jerkface_ to start your project?"

Kurt yawned and covered his mouth. "No. We were going to, but now we're just going to stay after on Monday and Tuesday to get started on it. It works better for me, though, because I have other stuff to do."

"But you already don't get out of class until almost seven… which means you get home at 8:30…. And you don't get home until eleven on Wednesdays…" Blaine looked over quickly before returning his attention to the road. He tried to maintain a neutral voice, but he felt himself becoming a tiny bit aggravated. It was coming, he knew it was. Kurt was going to get to that point where he overworked himself, became super stressed out, acted less-than-nice because of it, and then had a nervous breakdown which would result in a lot of crying. Forget buckets, Blaine would need _boats_. e knewHe knew Kurt well enough to know that once he started the overworking, it wouldn't stop. It would just get worse and worse and worse.

"It's got to get done, Blaine. It's easiest for me if I just stay later when I'm already on campus as opposed to wasting all that gas to get there and get back on the weekend." Kurt shrugged.

"The money isn't the point. The point is you already don't get home until late and now you're going to get home even later. I don't want you walking to your car alone at night." Blaine sighed, glancing at Kurt every so often to gauge his reactions. Kurt didn't look upset. He just looked uninterested and bored.

"I'm a big boy. What's the worst that could happen when I walk to my car?" Kurt said, sarcastically. An uncomfortable air filled the room almost immediately, though, and they both sat quietly, clearly thinking back on the October before last. Finally, Kurt spoke in a much gentler voice. "Blaine, it's just easiest for me to stay after when I'm already there. I'll call you—like I always do—when I'm walking to my car, alright?"

"But then I have to stay up really late to make sure you get home alright when I have to get up at five in the morning to get ready for school." Blaine said, gripping the steering wheel tighter. It was already hard enough waiting up on Wednesday nights for Kurt to get home when Blaine had to get up so early on Thursdays. But he couldn't just go to bed. He was a heavy sleeper and knew he there was a big chance he wouldn't wake up if his phone rang. What if something happened to Kurt? What if he was in a wreck or his tire blew out? He wouldn't be able to get in touch with Blaine.

"Then just go to bed. I've never once asked you to stay up and wait for me." Kurt shook his head. "I'm a big boy. I'll be fine."

"But what if something happens?" Blaine sighed, beginning to feel anxious. He had not expected such a simple question to lead to this discussion and he really wished he hadn't even begun the conversation.

"If something happens, I'll handle it on my own. I'm an adult, just like you. And I'm not a complete idiot. If something happened to my car I'd be more capable of fixing it than you anyway. Just don't wait up."

"It's not just that, Kurt. You're going to overwork yourself. You're already stressed out. I heard your coughing fit last night. You've got to get _real_ rest or you'll wind up hurting yourself."

"I am resting. I have been sleeping, Blaine. Yes, I'm stressed out. But I'm dealing so don't try to act like I'm not." Kurt's voice rose a bit and he pursed his lips, clearly becoming upset. He definitely wasn't tired or uninterested anymore. "I am trying to grow up and manage things myself. I'm trying to do all of these things at once and I feel like maybe I've gotten it under control and you and Dad keep saying, 'No, do this.'Don't do that.'You're doing too much, Kurt.' Should I just sign over my life to you and let you boss me around like I'm a puppet?"

"It'd sure make my life a lot easier." Blaine snapped.

"Sorry we can't all be the great Blaine Anderson who can get seven A's in class and not struggle. I can't put off my assignments until seven the night before, Blaine. I'm not you, okay? I am me. My schedule is mine, my classes and work is mine. I realize you're upset that you've got a lot of free time and I'm busy, but that _isn't my fault_. I don't know what you expected. I'd just sit in my room for twenty minutes, pop out a design, make it at school, and come home to have sex every minute until dinner, eat dinner, and have sex every minute until I fell asleep?"

"Firstly, your grades were _just_ as good as mine so don't even try to act like that. And secondly, you _have to actually be home for us to have sex_!"

Kurt just let out an aggravated moan and rubbed his face. "I'm not driving to Columbus on Saturday. You're just going to have to get over it. You went through gas like crazy last semester. The reason you decreased the days you went and how much you worked was because of how much you spent on gas. How does it make sense for us to just switch off?"

"My jobs cancelled that cost right out." Blaine snapped. "It's not like I was spending money we don't have on things like $40 dolls and $60 dresses for a baby who will outgrow them in two weeks."

"Don't even try to turn this into something else. I can use the money in _my_ savings account how _I_ want to use it. Just like you can blow all of your money off on freaking Taco Bell four times a day." Kurt snapped right back.

"At least Taco Bell is a hell of a lot cheaper than Fazolis and Subway."

"Why are we arguing about money?" The younger boy groaned, looking extremely frustrated. "Money isn't the problem. The problem is you and Dad thinking that you know what's best for me. That's the problem. **"**

Maybe Blaine should have tried to calm himself down before he spoke, but he was now too tired and frustrated to do that. Instead, he simply said the first thing that came to his mind and hoped nothing too upsetting would pop out. He was only human, after all, and why couldn't he express his feelings when he was frustrated with his boyfriend? "No. The problem is that you think you can get home at eleven and leave at six every night and day without killing yourself. The problem is you are essentially at class from 8 until 6:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 8 until 9:30 on Wednesdays. The problem is you don't understand that there is a point where you've taken on too much and that this—what you're trying to do—is too damn much!"

" _What are you doing, idiot?_ " Kurt suddenly shrieked at someone in a small Ford as they cut Blaine off, causing Blaine to slam on his breaks. " _Idiot_!"

Blaine just shook his head angrily and turned on Katy Perry, bringing an effective end to their argument and any more conversation for the rest of the ride home.

* * *

After a very stressful and tension-filled weekend, the last thing that Kurt really wanted to do on Monday night was stay late after class to work on a project with one of his least favorite classmates. Unfortunately the past few days had been full of things he hadn't wanted to do (be in the same room as a grumpy Blaine, be in the same car with a grumpy Blaine, have a serious chat on the phone call with his dad because of a grumpy and tattle-tale Blaine) and Kurt had almost accepted that the entire project and everything affected by it was going to suck. And, to make it worse, _Jerkface_ was almost half an hour late. Was Kurt even surprised? No, not at all.

"I'll be honest. I thought there was _no way_ that Azari would ever pair us together. But I think that he figured it would be better than to stick us with anyone else or we'd have done all the work." A tall boy with perfect straight blond hair and startling blue eyes suddenly said quietly, causing Kurt's eyes to widen and almost causing him to jump. He hadn't heard the studio door open and hadn't expected someone to be standing right next to him, much less talking to him. The boy tossed his bag onto one of the studio tables carelessly, oblivious to having scared Kurt. "I was absolutely _terrified_ that I was going to have to work with Jake. He doesn't know how to sew at all."

Kurt, who had been working on a sketch for class while waiting for him to show up, looked up from his sketchbook and refrained from sighing. "Hello, Alec Davis."

"Hey." Alec took a seat next to Kurt at the table and looked down at his sketchbook. "Oh, sweet. That looks awesome. Is that for Fashion Design tomorrow?"

Kurt looked back down at the sketch and nodded as he closed the notebook. "Yes. I haven't had much time to work on anything outside of class last week or this weekend at home."

"Tell me about it. My boyfriend's in med school and I'm constantly having to quiz him. Did you know if you were to pull apart your small intestine it would be four times as long as the average adult? Pretty neat stuff, apparently. Oh well. He's interested, what can I do?" Alec laughed a bit.

"You've got a boyfriend?" Kurt asked curiously. He didn't know why he was so shocked. Everyone in classes always loved him, he was always chattering on his phone outside of classes when waiting to go in, and he had a very outgoing and infectious personality. He also, though, had a very strong personality. It was hard to picture him having a boyfriend, going home to someone, and going on dates. Then again, people probably thought that about Kurt when they didn't know him too.

"Oh yeah. We've been dating since I was fourteen. He's four years older than me. It's my first year here and his first year in med school. He goes to Toledo." Alec nodded. "We're both from California. Hence the hair and eyes."

"You lived in California and came _here_?" Kurt's eyes widened in shock. "Why?"

"Because Eric's here." Alec said, as if it was simple as that. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Eric and Alec. My mom thinks it's cute too... But I came here because I didn't want to be anywhere else. I thought of going to school for fashion in California with Lauren Conrad—I met her at an Orange Leaf once, by the way. She is _not_ so pretty in person. But… yeah. No. He got his undergrad at UCLA and got into Toledo for med school. And I couldn't see living so far away from him, only seeing him at Thanksgiving and Christmas? Maybe part of the summer? I couldn't do that. So I came here. There was no way I was going to be apart from him."

"Wow." Kurt said quietly, shocked. "Do you all live together?"

"No. Toledo is two and a half hours away." The blond boy sighed a bit. "But he usually comes down on weekends… when he can. Or I'll go there. Usually he tries to come down here though because my roommate is nicer than his two are."

"Why would you give up school in California if you don't even get to live with him?" Kurt asked, staring at him almost blankly. Giving up California seemed to be pretty pointless considering they weren't even living in the same house. He didn't get it.

Alec blinked at him for a few seconds, his expression equally as blank as Kurt's. "Because we wanted to be close to each other. He's more important than school." Alec said slowly and gestured around the studio. "This doesn't _matter_ to me. I like doing it. I _love_ doing it. But I'll be honest. I don't _need_ the money. I've got a trust fund, my parents have money. I'm here because I wanted to be close to my boyfriend and because I _like_ being here. Some people just let these classes consume their entire life and that's just silly. What is this assignment? A grade? If you're going to make it, you'll make it without Fashion Illustration and Fashion Design with Azari and Becker. This grade won't get you anywhere that your talent won't. I mean, come on. I'm not here for the grades. I'm here to continue schooling to please mom and dad while being close to my boyfriend."

"You're at CCAD and don't care about your grades?" Kurt asked skeptically.

"Do you have a boyfriend, Kurt?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then you should understand… Thank about it. What's more important? Being a fashion designer or being with him?"

"Can't you have both?" Kurt asked quietly, almost feeling like a lost little puppy. He didn't like the seriousness of their conversation and regretted asking Alec about his boyfriend. Not only that, but he had just been asked which was more important —Blaine or fashion design. Fashion design, something he's been interested in and loved since he was five. And Blaine, the boy he'd fallen in love with the first time he'd laid eyes on the shorter and dark-haired boy. How could he even think about choosing? And was it bad that he couldn't?

Alec shrugged and then waved to someone coming into the studio, flashing them a friendly smile. He leaned towards Kurt and spoke quietly so no one else could hear. "I don't even remember that girl's name to tell you the truth and she always talks to me. It's kinda creepy… C'mon. What kind of idea are we going to get in this stuffy place?" He stood and grabbed his bag.

"I thought we were working on our sketch." Kurt protested, once again looking confused. He was almost finding it hard to keep up with Alec, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy jumping topics in the middle of conversations.

"We are going to work on it. C'mon, Kurt."

"But where are we going?" Kurt asked, throwing his sketchbook into his messenger bag.

"I don't know yet but I'm sick of looking at ugly gray walls and anywhere will give more inspiration than this drab old place." Alec swung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the studio before waiting for Kurt to even stand.

"You know," Kurt said a few seconds later, jogging to catch up with him. "I think I saw a scary movie like this once. The person in my position didn't live very long."

Alec just laughed loudly and pulled out his car keys. "Don't tell me you really think you'd get some brilliant idea in _there_? The key is to get the idea and then lock yourself in there for hours, days, weeks. It's too dingy and dreary to think up anything amazing, but boring enough to not get distracted while you make something fierce. Hurry up. I promise I won't wreck and kill you. I've never even had a wreck. _Come on_."

"Why not?" Kurt mumbled, pulling the passenger door open and getting into the car. Because, in all honestly, Alec had a point. What kind of idea could anyone have gotten in that studio room anyway?

* * *

Nearly two weeks later Kurt found himself sitting on his bed with his legs tucked underneath him and his sketchpad next to him, although much work wasn't done on the assignment that was due the next morning. This was, of course, the fault of his aunt Taylor who had a knack of calling at inopportune times. Because he hadn't talked to his aunt in a few weeks he had decided he would attempt to work on his homework while talking on the phone. This hadn't worked too well for him the last hour, though, and he didn't see it working better any time soon.

"Florida?" he questioned, finally just putting his pen down and pushing the sketchbook aside. This conversation would, without a doubt, require his full attention.

"Yeah! They want to move my store down there and it sounds like an awesome opportunity." His aunt's excited voice cracked over the speaker phone. "I'm kind of sick of snow. Sun and heat sounds amazing right about now. I've been snowed in for three days, Kurt. _Three days_. Besides, you can come to visit me and we'll go to Disney World if I move down there. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"It sounds like you're trying to bribe me." Kurt laughed as he off the speaker phone. He curled up and held his cell phone to his ear, making himself more comfortable.

"I just don't know how you'll feel about me moving so far away. I get the feeling you're still holding onto hope that…" His aunt trailed off. "Disney World! You've always wanted to go, Kurtsie. You and Blaine can come stay with me and I'll ask off work and we'll go see everything."

"That's really good, Taylor… I'm happy for you." Kurt said, although his aunt was right. Some small part of him, even after last Thanksgiving, was stick holding onto hope that his aunts would get back together. Now that Taylor was moving away, and hopefully moving on completely, he would have to give up that hope as well.

"Aw, thanks honey!" Taylor said, sounding genuinely happy. "How are things with you?"

Kurt hesitated, because things weren't exactly going well. He didn't really want to bring it up with anyone, though. Especially to Taylor who was very cheerful now after talking about moving to Florida. Taylor didn't need to be bothered with his issues. He didn't even want to be bothered with them.

Taylor sighed and he heard her clapping her hands together. "Out with it. Spit it out. In fact, go get ice cream and I'll get ice cream too and we can have a nice heart-to-heart about your troubles. Auntie Taylor knows best."

"Auntie Taylor." Kurt snorted, but did as told and went to make himself a bowl of ice cream. "Alright, I'm ready. You ready?"

"Me, Ben, and Jerry are all ready." Taylor chirped. "Spill."

"Well I'm taking more classes and that's kind of stressful, but I expected as much. I don't think Blaine expected it."

"Blaine misses Kurt time?" Taylor cooed.

"I guess." Kurt curled up on the couch, for once glad that Blaine was out with David and he had the house to himself. It was nice to not have him huffing every time Kurt entered a room or anything he entered a room and found Kurt of Kreacher in it. "But there is more to it. In Fashion Illustration I have to work with a partner. A gay partner."

" _Ahh_."

"Don't 'ahh!' It's nothing like that. In fact _I_ didn't want to even work with him but Blaine's all 'Oh, it'll be good for you. Make a friend. It'll be good to work with someone you don't like. Kurt sighed. "So I've been staying late in the studio to get it done. I mean, I live so far away and Alec lives right off campus. I'm not going to make him drive all the way to Cincinnati."

"Blaine doesn't like you staying late? Or Blaine doesn't like you staying late with another gay boy?"

Kurt licked his spoon and swallowed before speaking. "I don't know. He says he's just worried about me walking to my car, which is understandable. But then he also comments about how I'm just never home and why he doesn't understand why we have to work in the studio. But it is _so much easier_ working in the studio. At home Blaine whines about being hungry or the dog and Kreacher whines about being hungry or Blaine. It's like they're little children—yes, Kreacher, I'm talking about you. Don't you come over here and try to love on me. You're driving me just as crazy as Blaine. And you're not getting any of my ice cream either. Blaine may give you whatever human food you want, but I won't"

"Alright, well," Taylor sighed a bit, bringing Kurt's attention back to the topic at hand. "Are you fighting about that?"

"We're not _fighting_. We have these… _heated discussions_ … Mainly just Blaine ranting about all of that stuff. And then I'll make my extremely valid point," Kurt chose to ignore his aunts very loud snort. "And then the discussion will end."

"Well, sweetie, are you sure he's arguing about what he's arguing about? Maybe he's really upset that you're spending a lot of time with another gay boy and not him." Taylor suggested very calmly.

"That's stupid. I don't even like Alec like that. Blaine's the one who said we should be friends in the first place. And yeah, I mean… he's nice. He's from California and everybody around him just loves him, he talks to everyone, you know? And he's got some really great ideas… but I don't like him like _that_. It's just nice to have someone in the same school as me that understands my deadlines and assignments and why exactly it's easier for me to sometimes just work in the studio…"

"You haven't said this to Blaine have you?"

"Well… What's wrong with that?" Kurt asked, rather dumbly. Of course he had said this to Blaine, but only to get his boyfriend to see reason.

" _He's from California. Everybody around him jut loves him. He's got great ideas. It's nice to have someone that understands me._ " Taylor said slowly. " _I_ know what you're saying. But from the point of view of your boyfriend, who you see less now… Well, I can see why there'd be a little…"

"I love Blaine." Kurt interrupted. "I don't like Alec like _that_."

"Have you come out and said that to him?"

"No. I shouldn't need to. Blaine should know I love him and only him."

Taylor was quiet for a few minutes before she spoke. "I love you, babe. And I don't want to sit here and try to give you relationship advice when I'm single… but… Communication—Open communication—is key. Blaine may seem oh so perfect to you, but I'm sure he's got doubts. Talk to him."

"I appreciate that. But I really don't need to. He knows I'd never do or think anything like that that." Kurt finished his ice cream and sat the bowl on the coffee table, mentally reminding himself to wash it later so Blaine didn't have another reason to get upset.

"Kurt..." Taylor sighed a bit. "Okay, sweetie. If you're sure. But… frequent heated discussions aren't good, babe, and they tend to lead to… heated _arguments_ … which then lead to full fledged fights.'

"Blaine and I aren't like that. We don't fight. Even when we fight, we don't _fight_." Kurt said confidently. "We're fine. There is nothing wrong, Taylor. Just because we had a heated discussion doesn't mean it's going to end up in us at each other's throats."

There was silence for a few seconds and then he heard his aunt sigh again. "Alright, babe… Look, I need to head to bed. I've got to pull an open to close tomorrow assuming I can get out of my house and I'm getting a little sleepy. You take good care of yourself, alright? Make sure you eat three meals a day and get enough sleep. Annie's still pretty worried about you."

"Grandma is always worrying about something." Kurt sighed this time as well. "I'm taking care of myself.'

"Daddy doesn't think you are." His aunt pointed out softly. "According to Annie, at least."

Kurt rolled his eyes, shaking his head and instantly becoming annoyed at both his father and boyfriend. "Dad is paranoid and Blaine's making it ten times worse. I'm doing just fine and if anyone else thinks otherwise then they're wrong."

"I'd be more persuaded if you didn't sound so offended. Call me on Friday morning, alright? Before you all head to Lima. Oh, and tell Blaine I said hello and that the link he posted on Facebook the other day made my entire week?"

Kurt laughed. "Alright, I'm sure he'll enjoy hearing that. He spent an entire hour watching it and rolling around in bed laughing… You take care of yourself too, okay?"

"Always do, Kurtsie. I'll talk to you on Friday." Taylor said. "Bye, sweetie."

"Bye." Kurt hung up the phone and picked up his sketchbook again. There could be _no way_ that Blaine was jealous of _him_ talking to another boy. Kurt wasn't even the attractive one in the relationship. Like anyone in their right mind would want to date Kurt. In fact, he was still trying to figure out why someone as perfect as Blaine Anderson fell in love with him. So, no. There was just no way. No way.

* * *

"How do you _do_ that?" Kurt gasped, coming into the house late at night a week later. He tugged off his jacket and carefully hung it by the door in a way that ensured, without a doubt, that it would not get wrinkled. Kurt did not like wrinkled clothes. Especially expensive wrinkled clothes.

Blaine looked up from his laptop and said, without a whole lot of effort to sound cheerful, "What?"

"That! How do you type so fast? It's like you're physically assaulting the laptop!" His younger boyfriend pointed at the computer that was sitting on Blaine's lap.

"This paper is due in at midnight. It's ten." Blaine returned his attention to his essay, incredibly frustrated. He was seriously beginning to regret taking anthropology. It wasn't even his major and yet he had to write essays for _each chapter_? That was a paper each and every Thursday. So what if it was only a three to four page paper? That was a good hour or two out of his life every week. To make it worse, he was pretty sure he had the professor that was known for throwing essays into the air as a grading method. The papers he caught received A's and every other paper received a B. How did an idiot like that become a tenured professor? Oh, right. The idiot went to foreign countries and poked sticks at monkey skeletons. Frankly, Blaine wasn't interested. The only part of the class he had enjoyed was when the man told them a story about how he was in some random country—Blaine was an English major, not Geography, so why should he care which?— and a pack of monkeys threw poop at them. His first thought? _Well done, monkeys_. He had thought it would be an enjoyable class but it was the exact opposite. Apparently he'd gotten the worst Anthropology professor at UK. Just his luck as of lately, too.

"I wish I could put my work off until two hours before." Kurt sighed and sat on the couch next to him, kicking his Sperrys off. "You just typed an entire paragraph in less than a minute!"

"Mmh." Blaine said, still not even attempting to sound cheerful. He wasn't cheerful. He was annoyed. Kurt was home late, he had a ridiculous paper due in less than two hours, David had borrowed his _Viva Piñata_ game and "lost it" meaning he just didn't want to give it back yet, and Blaine was really just upset in general. Oh yeah, and for some reason the Taco Bell was closed down—Taco Bell! Closed! Who cared about a stupid water pipe bursting? Wal-mart has floaties, alright? And they weren't _that_ expensive. Haven't they heard of boats either? They weren't _that_ hard to come by. He was pretty sure boat stores had same day delivery options too. "How's your project going?"

"Awesome." Kurt chirped, head resting on Blaine's shoulder. "There is _no way_ that we won't get full marks. And it's a big portion of our grade, so that's at least one class I don't have to kill myself over."

"No determination to fight to the death to be better than _Jerkface_?" Kurt was wrong when he named Alec Jerkface. He should have called him _Homewrecker._ Homewrecker who was tall, had a nice tan, and had perfect _straight_ blond hair and bright blue eyes. And a nice smile. And an incredibly nice body. At least Blaine didn't flaunt pictures of himself shirtless on Facebook for people to see. That was just tacky.

"Oh, I still want to be the best." Kurt said happily. "But now that we're friends the intensity isn't quite so… intense."

Intense like _Homewrecker's blue eyes?_ Because Blaine wasn't blind. Even if he had been, though, he would have noticed how much happier Kurt was now that he _was friends_ with Alec. Yeah, right. Friends with Alec. Staying late after school on Mondays, Tuesdays and now Thursdays to get work done. To get work done. Right.

"Hmm."

"Are you in a bad mood?" Kurt reached up and played with one of Blaine's soft curls. "Did you have a bad day?"

_Yes_.

"No." Blaine frowned, well aware that there was a hint of a whine in his voice.

"Oh, Blaine. What happened?" Kurt asked, lowering his voice.

"Nothing. I just need to work on this paper, okay? I can't really talk right now."

Kurt let his hand fall from Blaine's hair and he sighed, sounding more than a little hurt when he spoke. "Fine. I'm going to sketch in the bedroom so I don't bother you."

"Fine." Blaine sighed. "See you later."

Kurt let out a resigned sort of noise and stood up. "You should come and sit with me when you're done."

He waited for an answer but when he didn't get one he just sighed and went up to bed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Down, Kreacher. _Down_!"

Blaine looked up to see Kurt in the doorway, holding up a large bag high off of the ground. Two days, two very tense days, had passed since their last… heated discussion, as Kurt liked to call them. Blaine preferred to call them arguments, but Kurt liked to sugarcoat things until they exploded.

"Stop jumping. If you mess this up, I'm letting Blaine give you away." Kurt threatened as Kreacher continued to just jump up and down on his legs excitedly, trying to get to the bag. "Blaine, can you help here please?"

Blaine threw a chew toy across the room in the opposite direction and Kreacher got down very low, began running, and then pounced on the toy which resulted in a loud "SQUEAK!"

"Thanks." Kurt ran to the closet and put the bag in carefully, closing the door. "I put it in your closet, but only until I catch him and get him in his cage."

"Hmm." Blaine, who had yet to even look up from his textbook, said. "Mmkay."

"All you ever say to me anymore is hmm or mmkay. Are you really _this_ mad about me working in the studio?"

Blaine finally looked up at his boyfriend and shrugged. "I'm not even going to talk about it. You know how I feel about you overworking yourself and it's just not normal to spend more time with… no. I know what you're trying to do."

"I'm not trying to do _anything_." Kurt sighed and scooped Kreacher, who had attempted to run past, into his arms. Blaine heard him talking to the dog as he walked into the kitchen where Kreacher's cage was. "It's time for Kreacher to go to bed. Yes, it is. Even if it's eight. Because I've got work to do and I don't trust you to leave me alone. And Blaine doesn't love you. Nope, not one bit."

Blaine just glanced back down at his book, trying very hard to not be as annoyed as he was. It _wasn't_ right to spend more time with a gay classmate than your gay boyfriend. That was what Blaine wanted to say, what he should have said. He didn't want to give Kurt any reason to be dramatic, though, and he had decided to keep his mouth shut. It would be fine. Soon the project would be over and Kurt would have no excuse to stay late every day. Why should he need to stay at the studio with Alec if there was no project, right? And if he _did_ need to stay after the project was done… Well then, Blaine determined, he'd have something to worry about.

"Blaine, would you just _talk_ to me?" Kurt asked several minutes later, sounding upset. "You act like I poisoned your dog or something."

"I don't act like you poisoned my dog." The older boy scoffed.

"You could at least say hello."

"I said 'hmm' which is basically hello."

Kurt's eyes widened in frustration and he sat down, pulling Blaine's book out of his hands. "Talk to me."

"I just want to do my homework."

"This isn't even a school book." Kurt sighed and handed it back to him, looking the other way. "I don't understand what I've done. Actually, I haven't done _anything_ wrong. I've done nothing wrong, Blaine. Not one thing. I am staying after to work on school work. It's not like I'm partying it up in Columbus. I think you're jealous."

" _Jealous_?" Blaine let out a very loud and sarcastic laugh as he reopened his book.

So what if Blaine had stalked his Facebook. So what if he had stared at that shirtless picture of him, scowling with his arms crossed over his chest? And so what if he was possibly just a little bit more concerned with the current status of his relationship with Kurt than Kurt overworking himself? That didn't make him _jealous_. Blaine didn't get jealous anyway.

"Yes. Jealous." Kurt stood and made his way to the closet, pulling the bag back out. "Now I wish I hadn't brought this home to work on. I _thought_ you'd be happy I came straight home. Now I wish I hadn't."

"Right. Then maybe you should go back."

"What's your problem?" Kurt tossed the bag onto the nearest chair angrily.

"My problem is that you're overworking yourself. You're gone all week!"

"No. What's your _real_ problem?"

Blaine stood, snapping his book shut once again. "You know what? It doesn't matter. That stupid thing is due next week and after that you'll be back to coming home before midnight. Then I can get back to actually sleeping once in a while because I'm not up waiting to make sure you didn't get beat up on the way to your car again or that you got into a wreck."

"That stupid thing?" Kurt echoed slowly. "That _stupid_ thing? I have put hours into that _stupid thing_."

"Yeah you've been putting hours into _something_."

Kurt stared at the older boy in shock, blue eyes wide. Something registered on Kurt's face that Blaine couldn't quite read. At that moment, though, Blaine couldn't fit it in him to care about hurting the younger boy's feelings. He knew he'd been thinking the same things over and over for days but he just couldn't help it. There was something not right with the fact that Kurt was spending more time with a 'partner in school' who was now his 'friend' than his own boyfriend. Something not right with the fact that Kurt was all of a sudden ten times happier. Not only was Kurt spending more time with _Homewrecker_ during the week, but he had even gone to Columbus on some weekend days to get work done too.

Then there was the fact that he was _humming_. He hadn't hummed so much since Blaine's senior year at Dalton and the summer right before he began UK! He sure hadn't hummed cheerfully last semester when he was almost pulling his hair out. There hadn't been one week of frustration and then one week of contentment. No. The stress had gotten worse and worse, the frustration more and more, until the very end when assignments were done and all they had to do was wait to turn them in on grading day.

It wasn't that Blaine didn't want Kurt to make friends and be happy. Hell, he'd _encouraged_ it. But now he was really kicking himself for that. Maybe what bothered him most was the fact that he couldn't help but wonder why _he_ wasn't able to make Kurt more cheerful during the semester than some boy who'd only worked with home on a project for a few short weeks. Blaine, his boyfriend, the boy he lived with and helped support him, should have been able to make him feel better than someone who was practically a stranger. Why wasn't he, Blaine, able to make Kurt happy?

He had to stop this. The first few times that the thought had popped into his head he had sort of laughed it off. After all it was _Kurt_. Yes, Kurt was gorgeous and could probably get any man he wanted. But Kurt was also loyal… Things just kept getting weirder and it didn't feel _right_. Blaine did have a tendency to build things up in his head. He was well aware of this. It felt like more than that, though. It felt like it ran deeper than Blaine just being anxious and paranoid. It felt like something was coming in-between he and Kurt. He didn't like feeling that their relationship was threatened. That he had… competition?

Alright. Maybe Blaine was a tad bit jealous.

"Why don't you either man up and say what you mean instead of insinuating things? That or shut up." Kurt snapped, eyes narrowing. "Go on, Blaine."

"I don't have to say anything. You know what's going on here." Blaine crossed his arms over his chest and looked in the opposite direction. He heard the rustle of the bag as Kurt snatched it off of the chair.

"I have done nothing wrong and yet you're being a complete asshole to me. What am I supposed to do, _Blaine_?" Kurt drawled out his name. Usually when Kurt said his name he liked the way it sounded, but not this time. "I'm doing school work."

"You know what you're doing; you know why I'm mad. You're… overworking yourself."

Kurt let out a loud sarcastic laugh, and Blaine decided he did not like hearing that sort of laugh geared at him. If Kurt wasn't so thin it would have almost made Blaine cringe. "First truthful thing you've said all night! Good job!"

"Just let it go, Kurt." Blaine said, having to stop himself from gritting his teeth. He knew he had brought out the bitchiness in Kurt himself and that there was no one else to blame, but that didn't mean he couldn't get angry. And maybe he was angrier with himself than with Kurt at this point. He was too frustrated to know what he was frustrated at anymore.

"I can't believe I came home to work on this to make _you_ feel better, to make you happy, and it's turned into something like this. What has gotten _into_ you?"

"Why can't I be angry? Why is it such a problem that I'm upset and acting upset? You get upset once a day and have your little freak outs or your little fits Usually over nothing. And I'm upset and I'm supposed to hold it all in?" Blaine asked loudly, standing up.

"I don't act like a complete bitch when I'm upset."

This time it was Blaine who let out a laugh. It wasn't just a sarcastic one. It was a _loud_ sarcastic one. "Ha! You don't act bitchy? _You_ don't act bitchy?"

"You're being such an asshole! I haven't done anything to you. I walked through the door! That's what I did!" Kurt exclaimed, looking hurt. "I haven't gotten upset like _that_ since last semester, Blaine. I mean, I've been upset but not like _this_." He gestured at his older boyfriend. "You're like the freaking Hulk right now or something!"

"I can't deal with this right now." Blaine said, moving past him.

"You can't deal with this or with me?" Kurt called after him angrily.

Blaine had a feeling someone would be sleeping on the couch tonight anyway, so he didn't even have to sugarcoat what he said next. "I haven't decided yet."


	26. Chapter 26

_**Part One** _

Maybe waiting until four days after his project had been turned in and cornering his boyfriend hadn't been the smartest idea Kurt Hummel had ever had, but the tension that had built up in the house was becoming unbearable. Kurt had expected it to die off four days ago when he came home and announced that the project was turned in and they'd gotten excellent marks but this had not happened. No, instead Blaine had asked why he'd still gotten home so late, why he needed to work in the studio, and whether or not Alec stayed at the studio after classroom hours to work. The older boy had said it in what was supposed to be a nonchalant way, but Kurt knew what was really being asked. And it had pissed Kurt off to no end, but he'd kept his mouth shut for four days.

Not only that, but Blaine kept ignoring him—just like he had been for a few weeks. It was one thing for Blaine to be grumpy, but it was another for him to completely ignore Kurt all together. What if Kurt had been calling because he'd been in a car accident? What if something had happened to Burt, Melody, Carole, or Finn? What if Kurt had died? Well, if he'd died he wouldn't have been calling but that wasn't the point. The point was that Blaine had turned into an immature school girl and was refusing to even talk things out. Instead things seemed to be getting worse and not better.

This was so unlike most of their fights. Usually Kurt would start them off with some insensitive comment or something of that sort. Blaine would retaliate, Kurt would get more upset, they would be angry for a few hours, and one of the two would cave and bring the other cheesecake, coffee, Taco Bell, or anything else they would know would ease the tension.

Kurt had brought the older boy Taco Bell two nights in a row and still he stuck to his 'Mmh's and 'Mmkays.' Had Blaine tried anything to end it? No. Why? Presumably because Kurt was working on _school work_ after school. Yes, Alec was in the studio too. Maybe they even sat across from each other and had short chats during breaks (very short breaks, might he add), but what did that matter? It wasn't like they were the only students in the studio after classes working on stuff. It wasn't like they sat the whole time and talked. It wasn't like they were fooling around. In fact, it was so obvious that Alec was madly in love with his med school boyfriend that the fact that Blaine would think anything else was hilarious. He supposed he should have talked to Blaine about everything, but he was stubborn. He was stubborn and he'd done _nothing_ wrong. He truly hadn't. Why couldn't he stay at school after class and work on projects? And why didn't Blaine trust him to tell the truth when he said that was where he was?

Yes, Kurt knew he was the immature one in the relationship. He would throw hysterical fits over nothing at all, he would get worked up because of the tiniest thing, he would sometimes be grumpy and cause arguments just for the purpose of causing arguments. Which was why the entire thing was throwing him off. Blaine knew how to put up with stuff like this. Kurt just got frustrated, which was a lot like what his father did. So, how _was_ Kurt supposed to deal with it? He just wanted it over with so everyone could move on. He hated know there was tension, so much freaking tension.

It probably would have been wiser to let Blaine come to Kurt himself, but Blaine was not a fan of talking about personal things. They could have been forty by the time anything was resolved. Which is why Kurt, rather dumbly, decided to take things into his own hands.

"I want this out _now_." He walked into the bedroom. Blaine was sitting in his pajamas on the bed, reading his Norton Anthology of British Literature. In retrospect, Kurt should have saw the huge book he was reading and waited for him to be reading something more interesting—Blaine hated reading that damn anthology so of course he would have already been in a grumpy mood.

Blaine looked up, scowled, and said in an even and controlled voice, "I'm busy right now, Kurt."

"Well I don't care." Kurt took the book, snapped it shut, and put it on the nightstand. "My project has been done for four days. Why are you still acting like this?"

"Do _not_ come in here and try to get all confrontational on me." Blaine said calmly, reaching for the book.

"No. I'm sick of coming home every night after working on school stuff and not knowing whether or not I need to tiptoe past the room to avoid a pointless argument. I'm sick of feeling like _I've_ done something wrong when I've done absolutely nothing." Kurt moved in front of the book so Blaine couldn't grab it. "I know you've got this problem where you hate talking about personal things—."

"I do _not_ have a problem!" Blaine snapped. Clearly Kurt had struck a nerve.

"You've got a problem with talking about personal things just like I have a problem freaking out and throwing fits anytime I'm stressed. At least _I_ know and admit to what _I_ have a problem with, Blaine."

"I can talk about things. I just don't want to."  
"Then tell me what the problem is."

"You know what the problem is."

"Oh my _God_! How is anything supposed to get fixed if you always hold everything in?" Kurt exclaimed, his eyes widening in frustration. " _How_?"

"Do you want things to go back to normal?" Blaine asked slowly.

"Of course I do."

" _Then maybe you should actually spend some time at home with me and not with some boy you hated two months ago!_ "

"I'm home on the weekends!"

"Yeah but during the week you get home really late, and you're all cheerful and hunky-dory and then you _go to sleep_! We live together but I feel like the only time I get a straight conversation with you is Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday. _But even then, you talk about that… that home wrecker!_ "

Kurt took a step back and laughed loudly, unable to hold it in. "Home wrecker? I thought _I_ was the dramatic one?"

"It's not funny! You would rather spend time with some guy you barely know than me!" It sounded angry, but Blaine looked pitiful and Kurt could tell he was upset by looking in his eyes.

"Blaine, I wouldn't rather spend time with him over you." Kurt stepped forward and grabbed his hand. "I love _you_. I could never love anyone but you."

"I don't believe that." Blaine pulled back, almost roughly. "Look at you, Kurt. You're _gorgeous._ You're absolutely gorgeous. I was the first openly gay kid you ever met, okay? But now you're going to CCAD and you've probably got tons of gay boys in your class and you're going to…" he trailed off.

"Going to what, Blaine?"

Blaine just shook his head, looking anywhere but at Kurt.

"I just want to fix whatever this is, Blaine. And I can't do that if you don't let me."

"You're going to find someone else. How stupid am I to think that someone like you would ever want to stay with someone like me? And you're going to find someone tall with straight blonde hair and blue eyes like Alec. And you're going to end up with them because I'm just an English major who is too short with terrible hair and all of these issues—not to mention David and Wes are amazing, but they scare off anyone sane after too long." Blaine rambled on.

"Stop that." Kurt moved forward again and grabbed both of his hands. He spoke very softly. "I could never find someone better than you, Blaine Anderson. I _love_ the fact that you're two inches shorter than me."

"An inch and a half." Blaine muttered.

"I love your hair—curly or gelled. I love your _beautiful_ hazel eyes. I love that you're an English major. You love to read and write. You're so smart and one day you're going to law school. So don't say you're _just_ an English major. You're going places… and David and Wes, as insane as they are, are just a part of the Blaine Anderson Package. You got Dad, Carole, Finn, and Melody and I get two controlling Warblers. It kind of evens out, don't you think?"

"I don't think this is funny and you're trying to be all nice and sweet and joke around. I don't want to joke around!"

"I know it's not funny, Blaine." Kurt said, a little desperately. "I'm just trying to make you feel better and I just don't know what to say… I… This can't really be about me working on school work."

"It's not about that!" Blaine's voice rose a bit.

"Then what's it about?"

"It's about the fact that I don't understand why this semester is totally different. You're _never_ home. Never!"

"Blaine, I can't help that my night class on Tuesdays and Thursdays doesn't get out until late! I can't help it!" Kurt should have lowered his voice but this wasn't going at all like he'd planned. He had planned for them to sit down, talk it out, hug, and make up. He hadn't wanted it to lead to an _actual_ argument and he was pretty sure that was where it was going. "I know I've been home less, but I've been working on school stuff. It's not like I'm going out partying or having an affair. I'm doing _school work_. And I don't understand why you're acting this way over it."

"Oh, so you don't get home until almost midnight every night and then go back to class all day the next day? What about the days you get out earlier?"

"I just told you! I stay after and work on my projects! It's like you're trying to trick me into saying a different answer or something. What's your problem?" Kurt felt tears stinging his eyes but refused to let any of them fall. He hated the look on Blaine's face. Absolutely hated it.

"My problem is you staying out all hours of the night and even driving up to campus on some weekends. Because it _looks like_ —."

"What?" Kurt said sharply, taking a step towards Blaine. He was sick of the insinuations, the hints that something more than simply school work was going on. He narrowed his eyes, almost daring Blaine to say it, yet knowing the boy would never voice it out loud. Why wouldn't Blaine suggest it? Because deep down he had to know that the idea was utterly ridiculous. "What does it look like, _Blaine_?" He made sure to put an emphasis on Blaine's name—something he generally only did when he was displeased.

"You—don't you try to turn this around and make _me_ the bad guy! You're overworking!"

"Overworking?" Kurt scoffed. " _Overworking_? Oh-ho no you don't. Don't you dare try to bring my health into this. Don't you even _fucking_ dare. We both know that you aren't worried about my _health_ or you wouldn't go around mumbling and slamming goddamn shit around with _that_ look on your face."

"What look?" Blaine scoffed.

"Admit it, Blaine. Do both of us a favor and just admit it. You're _jealous_. I can't believe you even went onto his Facebook."

" _Fine_ ," Blaine said in a way that almost rivaled Kurt's trademark _fine_. "Fine. I don't like you spending time around him." He lowered his voice. "I don't like it. Ever since it- Ever since you two did that project and became _best buds_ ," Blaine gestured wildly with his hands, "You've been going around, texting him, laughing at stuff he says or does, _working on school work together_."

"So do you have a problem with the fact that I have a friend at school or that he's a gay guy?" Kurt asked slowly. "I mean, it's bad enough that you hate Rachel for seemingly no good reason and try to get out of seeing her at any cost, but now… you haven't even _met_ him, Blaine. It's like any time I'm friends with anyone that isn't Mercedes or _your_ friends, that you _can't stand_ them. He's _nice_. Alec is a nice guy and—."

"Oh, he's nice? What color are his eyes, Kurt?"

"I don't know! I've never paid attention to his eyes!" Kurt suddenly shrieked. Instead of trying to stop an argument before it started, he had caused an even bigger one. This was not going well. "Just stop it! You can't tell me that I can't stay after school and work on stuff because you don't like someone who happens to be in my classes and happens to be in the studios! Why don't you say what you want, what you really think, now and we'll just have it out?"

"I don't want you staying after school." Blaine said, voice raising more. "I don't like it. I don't like you driving home so late."

" _Wrong_. Try the real reason." Kurt sneered. It was one thing to walk around and insinuate things. It was another to deny it, to deny what they both knew he thought. The real reasoning behind all of this tension. "You think you're big and bad enough to walk around starting arguments every other day. Well be a man and carry it out. Why don't you want me staying after school?"

" _Because I don't want you around him_!" Blaine shouted. "I don't like that one day you hated him and the next he's your best fucking friend! I'm supposed to be your best friend! Not him! He sounds like an _asshole_!"

"You are my best friend!" Kurt shouted right back. He hadn't expected Blaine to shout, but it only fueled his own rising anger. "And right now _you_ are the one being an asshole!"

"No! No, not anymore I'm not! You'd rather spend all day with him! You used to want to spend time with me, Kurt!"

"Yeah, that's part of it! That's part of your problem, Blaine, but why don't you talk about the rest? Why don't you talk about what's _really_ bothering you? Or am I going to have to wait another three years to hear you say it?"

"Don't act like that!" Blaine's face looked pained, but Kurt felt just as pained as Blaine looked. "I don't want to talk about it!"

Kurt gritted his teeth. "You're a coward, Blaine. You're a fucking _coward_."

Blaine's hazel eyes widened in shock as the words sank in. He hated hearing those words thrown at him when it was the one thing he hated about himself. What made it worse was that _Kurt_ had said it. He knew Kurt wasn't talking about his past, only the present argument, but that didn't make Blaine feel any better. It just made him even angrier if that was possible. Blaine hadn't felt so angry in a very, _very_ long time. "And you're a fucking idiot!"

"Excuse me?" Kurt shouted, tears filling his eyes again. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold these ones in, though. He knew these would fall. How could Blaine have said that to him? It wasn't that Kurt thought he was an idiot, or even that he thought Blaine thought he was one. It was just the sheer fact that Blaine had _said that_. How could Blaine have said that? He would probably feeling insanely guilty for calling Blaine a coward later, he may have even felt a little guilt immediately after saying it, but Blaine calling him an idiot… Whether or not it was said out of anger, it stung.

"Let's get serious, here. If you think I believe this late classes and homework thing, you're a fucking idiot!" Blaine responded, eyes narrowed. He didn't even look sorry for his words, he just looked _angry_.

"So _I'm_ an idiot because _you're_ a scared little boy who can't even properly stand up for himself in an argument? Because you have to hide behind lame excuses like overworking and money? You're a fucking asshole, Blaine! You're a s-s-scared asshole!" Kurt threw the bedroom door open and made his way into the living room. He could hear Blaine following him and he was pretty sure Blaine reached out to grab his arm but relented.

"Kurt, stop!" Blaine said, coming to a halt several feet across from him once they were in the center of the living room.

"Don't—Don't you fucking call me a fucking idiot. What, is it because I'm not at some university like you? Or is it because I can't maintain two jobs while taking seven classes? Or is it because I can see through your pathetic excuses of why you're upset?"

"No! You're an idiot because you think I don't know what's going on with Alec!"

"Don't fucking bring up this Alec thing until you're man enough to say what you really think!" Kurt shrieked, throwing his hands into the air. "Man up! Man up and say something!"

"You want to know what I think?" Blaine questioned, stepping closer.

"Yes! Let Blaine Anderson enlighten the world with his oh so secret thoughts! Please tell!" Kurt's voice seeped with sarcasm, the tears still stinging in his eyes. "What do you think, _Blaine_?"

"I THINK I WISH YOU'D GONE TO NEW YORK!"

A stunned silence filled the entire apartment. Kurt put a hand over his mouth, blue eyes wide and pained. Blaine took a few steps back, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked too angry to have even registered what he'd said only seconds before.

Finally, there was noise. Kurt choked back a sob and whimpered, "I can't believe you j-just said that to me."

"Well it's what I think." The older boy said simply, as if he'd just told Kurt that two plus two equaled four.

Kurt choked back another sob, pushing past Blaine.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The younger boy just ran into the kitchen and fumbled quickly with the dog cage, scooping Kreacher into his arms before the dog could make a run for it. He snatched his keys off of the coffee table and pocketed his wallet with his free hand. "I can't b-b-be around you l-like this! Y-you're acting _awful_!"

"Kurt!" The anger in his voice very quickly turned into fear. "Wh-Where are you going?"

"You know what, Blaine?" Kurt, who had had his back turned to his boyfriend as he walked to the door, turned back around and spoke in a very quiet voice. "I wish I'd gone to New York too. There, are you happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Blaine's hazel eyes widened and he took a few steps forward, vision zoning in on his boyfriend's tearstained cheeks—and he had caused that. He had really told Kurt he wished he'd gone to New York. Why had he _done_ that? How had he gotten so angry? "I'm sorry, Kurt. I-."

"No. You don't get to call me a fucking idiot and say that shit to me. I k-know you've h-had a hard time, okay? I know you've got a-all this pent up anger inside. But that is _not an excuse_. I'm not your mom or your dad. And I'm leaving. Because you just went too far, Blaine. Way too fucking far."

With that, Kurt turned and ran to his car. Within seconds he was gone and Blaine was left wondering what in the hell had actually happened.

* * *

"It's not that I don't want you here, kid. I just want to know what happened."

Kurt sighed and took a rather large drink of his coffee. He didn't want to talk about showing up after eleven at night. Honestly, he thought his dad and Carole would be asleep. He'd planned to simply sneak into his bedroom and not announce his presence until the next morning when he had a clear mind, but that hadn't happened. They had been up with a fussy Melody and had jumped up the second he entered the house, asking frantic questions. If he'd known that they had been up, he would have made sure to sit outside until the puffiness around his eyes went away. His father had, of course, tried to get the information out of him right then and there but that had only caused a fresh batch of tears. Only after Carole had told Burt to go to put Melody to bed, that she would take care of it, did his father finally stop his questioning. Thankfully, Carole hadn't persisted when Kurt had mumbled that he just wanted to go to bed.

He knew Burt would question him. It didn't mean he was ready for it.

"You don't just show up crying in the middle of the night unless something happened. What's going on, Kurt?"

"It's nothing, Dad." Kurt rubbed his face in an attempt to wake himself up. Not that he'd slept much, though. He'd spent most of the night tossing and turning, hugging his dog close to him as if Kreacher was a teddy bear or his security blanket. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Well I do. You can't just show up in the middle of the night with no explanation. Did Blaine hurt you?"

"Burt, that's ridiculous." Carole exclaimed as she came into the kitchen. "Absolutely ridiculous. You know Blaine!"

"Blaine would never lay a hand on me, Dad." Kurt sighed, setting his cup down.

"Then what did he do?" Burt urged in his gruff voice, ignoring Carole. "What happened?"

"We just got into a fight! I don't want to talk about it! I'm tired and it's the weekend. I just wanted to come home, alright?"

"Sweetie, you can't come home every time you and Blaine get into a fight." Carole said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It was a p-p-pretty big fight." Kurt said, tears filling his eyes and his lip starting to tremble. He hadn't wanted to cry anymore. He didn't know why he was so emotional anyway. Other than the fact that his boyfriend wished he lived in another state, far away. That was nothing to cry over, right?

"Oh, hon." Carole squeezed his shoulder, sitting in the seat next to him. She shot Burt a look that clearly said 'Don't even open your mouth' and scooted closer. "Hon, do you want to talk about it?"

"H-H-He thinks I'm c-cheating!" Kurt wiped his eyes furiously.

"What?" Burt exclaimed.

"W-We had this project and I had to work with s-someone else, a guy. And we would stay after and work in the studio to get it done because I live so far away. And we kind of b-became friends but it was nothing like that! I _love_ Blaine!" Kurt added the last part almost pleadingly.

"We know you do, sweetheart." Carole ran her fingers through Kurt's uncharacteristically messy hair. "So you got into a fight because you're working on a project with someone he doesn't like?"

"S-sort of. B-but, see, it's so much easier to get my w-work done in the studio and I've been doing that so I can spend my time at home on the weekends not doing w-work the whole time. So the project is over but I've been s-staying and doing school work still but he thinks I'm having some affair because t-the other guy works on stuff in the studio too. And he says I a-act happier but its just b-because I'm getting work done faster a-and now I have a friend who understands the school stress."

Carole nodded, looking sympathetic. "He maybe feels a little left out?"

"He shouldn't! I'm just doing school work. He keeps saying he's worried about my _health_ and my _safety_ , but it's really that he thinks I'm cheating. A-And I tried to get him to just _say_ it because he keeps hinting a-and he told me I was an idiot."

Burt stood. "He said _what?_ He called you an _idiot_?"

"He said I was an i-idiot if I thought he didn't k-know what was going on. A-and then he…" Kurt trailed off.

It would not have been a wise idea to tell Burt about Blaine's NYU comment, but honestly he didn't feel as if he could even repeat those words out loud even if he'd wanted to. Truthfully that had hurt more than being called an idiot. The idiot comment could be written off as anger… but saying that about NYU ran deeper. Much deeper. Kurt had said some bad things too, though. Kurt wasn't innocent. His intentions had been good, but if he was honest with himself... calling Blaine a coward was nearly just as bad.

"He what?" Burt asked.

"That was pretty much it." Kurt took a deep breath to calm himself, trying to ignore the slight tingle in his chest as he did so. He really needed to calm down. He wasn't sobbing, he was barely crying any more. He was just incredibly upset and anxious. He felt the intense urge to just drive back to Cincinnati and curl up against Blaine. He wanted this to be over. Over. Done.

"So Blaine called you an idiot?" Burt asked slowly.

"Burt, please." Carole glared at her husband and ran her hand up and down Kurt's back. "Does Blaine know where you are?"

"I just got Kreacher and left. I didn't bring anything else. I didn't tell him where I went or anything, I basically just left." Kurt responded, still deciding it best to leave out what words had been exchanged right before his departure.

"I think you both probably said some pretty mean things, didn't you?" Carole asked gently.

"Y-yes. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to make it n-not be an argument and it turned into one so fast and he got so mad and then said things and I got mad because he said things but not the right things and…" he just trailed off, wiping his eyes.

"Everyone says things they don't mean when they're arguing. I'm sure Blaine doesn't really think you're an idiot, just like I'm sure you didn't mean some of the things you said. Your father and I have said some pretty mean things in the heat of the moment too, hon. It's a natural part of living together and being in a relationship." Carole moved so she was hugging him. "Everything will work itself out soon. I promise."

Kurt nodded, hugging her back.

"I know you might not want to hear this right now… but he's probably worried about you. Even if you're fighting, you should still call him or text him and let him know you're here and safe." She gave him a tight squeeze. "Okay? Can you at least do that so he doesn't worry about you?"

Kurt nodded and freed himself from her arms, standing. "I'll go do that now. Thanks, Carole."

"Kurt, you can stay as long as you want to." Burt said gruffly, eyes on his son. "Alright?"

"Thanks, Dad." Kurt offered a small smile and left the room.

"He needs to go home to Blaine." Carole whispered as soon as she thought he was out of earshot, but he heard her begin to speak and paused outside the door.

"That boy called him an _idiot_."

"Kurt said himself that Kurt said some bad things too. It was just a fight, Burt. Kurt's made Blaine cry too, remember? And do you remember how hard you were on him for it?" Carole responded. "I know he's your son and you want to protect him, but this isn't that Dave kid at McKinley. This is _Blaine_. The same Blaine that you let live in this house and that you go to football games with."

"You baby Blaine too much. You're biased." Burt grunted, glaring.

"I baby all four of them, Burt." Carole sighed. "Look, they are two young gay men. Kurt is dramatic, and we both know that Blaine doesn't handle being upset very well given what happened last year. If both of them leave home for days or weeks each time they have a fight they'll never learn to handle fights like adults. I'm not saying either of them is in the wrong. I'm saying that you can't get involved."

"I'm not getting involved." Burt said stubbornly.

"You're telling him he can stay as long as he'd like. The longer he stays, the longer the fight lasts. That is getting involved. Kurt knows he can stay as long as he wants. Don't make a point about it and secretly hint you'd rather him stay." Carole sighed a gain, shaking her head.

"He's my son. I just told him he could stay in his house."

"Don't get involved, Burt."

"I'm not getting involved."

" _Don't get involved."_

* * *

Blaine may have gotten a text from Kurt the other day saying he was safe and in Lima, but he couldn't help but worry. He hadn't remembered much of the fight right after, but in pieces it had all came together in his mind. It had escalated quickly, much too quickly, and Blaine was sure that was why he'd lost his temper so fast.

He kept thinking back on the coward comment, not sure how to take it or how upset he should be. Surprisingly, nearly two days later he felt… Annoyed. He wasn't upset, he wasn't overwhelmed with hate for Kurt. Because maybe Kurt had a point. Maybe he _was_ being a coward by not coming out and saying how he felt. He'd been an asshole, just like Kurt had said.

It wasn't that he thought Kurt wasn't in the wrong too, but he'd said something much worse. And, to make it even _worse_ , Blaine had made Kurt cry. Yes, Kurt calling him a coward was offensive… but it hadn't made him cry. Blaine had crossed a line saying he wished Kurt had gone to NYU. He'd been an asshole saying Kurt was an idiot, but when he brought NYU into it he'd not only crossed the line, he'd jumped up and down and the line and then ran past it. Several times.

He felt awful.

Blaine felt awful for what he said. Of course he didn't wish Kurt had gone to NYU. He loved their little apartment, he loved that they'd compromised to live between their own schools, he loved curling up with his head on Kurt's chest as he fell asleep or vice versa. The only thing he _didn't_ love was the fact that he was spending time with a _home wrecker._

No. Blaine was not going to get angry again. He couldn't tell which was worse—the fact that he'd said terrible things and was now feeling guilty or the fact that he had suspicious Kurt was _cheating_.

It was ridiculous, right? It didn't _feel_ ridiculous though. Blaine really and truly felt as though something else was going on in that studio. He didn't like it either. At all. He felt like this boy he had never even met was forcing himself between the two. He felt insecure, like Kurt would realize he wasn't that special after all and would latch onto the other guy. Latch onto him after running away, screaming from Blaine.

He wished _he_ had someone to run off too. It was all fine and dandy for Kurt—if he got into a bind he could run home to his daddy and the man would take him in with open arms. If Blaine tried to call his father, the man would probably commence with insults so harsh that Blaine contemplated suicide again.

No. It wasn't the time for think about that either.

No.

It was Sunday and, for once, Blaine found himself wishing he was taking five days of classes again just so he wasn't stuck in an empty apartment all alone. He even found himself wishing Kurt had left Kreacher. At least Kurt had company, Blaine was all alone.

He had been sitting in the kitchen and miserably snacking on stale chips when he heard a knock on the front door. He knew without a doubt it wasn't Kurt, but he kind of expected David to show up as a result of Blaine's incessant texts. He was very shocked to see Burt when he pulled the door open and his eyes widened.

Not good.

This was not good.

"Look, I'm sorry." Blaine said quickly before the man could even speak. "Things just got really out of hand and I lost my temper. I shouldn't have and I—."

Burt interrupted him, holding his hand up and giving Blaine a stern look that he'd seen the man give Kurt on more than one occasion. "We need to have a little chat, Blaine." He said gruffly, moving past Blaine and closing the door. "Actually, I'm going to talk and I'd rather you just listen."

"I—." Blaine opened his mouth to protest, but closed it quickly and just nodded.

"Sit down." Burt said, pointing to the couch.

Blaine considered his two options. He could sit down, or he could not. Sitting down would probably be best, he mentally noted, because Burt looked madder by the second.

"Do you have any idea where Kurt is?" The man asked slowly after Blaine was seated.

"He texted me and told me he was in Lima." Blaine said softly. If he'd felt guilty before, he _really_ felt guilty now. How upset must Kurt have been for his _father_ to show up?

"Do you care to tell me why my son showed up at almost midnight the other night when I'm putting Melody to bed?" Burt asked, his voice very low… low and angry. "eHe shows up with that hyperactive dog and he's _crying_. He wouldn't even talk to Carole and I until yesterday morning… and he says you called him an _idiot_?"

"I already… I… I was angry, okay? You don't even know the whole story. I wasn't even thinking. We were fighting and it just came out!" Blaine said, his voice rather high.

"I don't need to know the whole story to be mad that you called my son an idiot, kid. This is my turn to talk and your turn to listen." Burt interrupted him, holding his hand up again. At least he knew where Kurt got that annoying habit from. "Last fall I sent Kurt up here with you, Blaine, because I trusted you to take care of him. And he comes home in the middle of the night, near hysterical. Does that sound like he's well taken care of to you? First of all, don't you _ever_ say that my son is an idiot. Don't you ever imply that he isn't smart, because that boy is _damn_ smart. I seem to recall more than one occasion where you were at the house until after midnight after he got back from Dalton because he was helping you with French homework. I don't know what makes you think you can call him an idiot. Now I know you may have been taught in a fancy private school all your life, but that does not make my son any less smarter than you. You got that? My kid is smart. That boy could go to any damn university and get better grades than half the nimrods in college right now, and yourself might just be included in that category."

"I didn't _mean_ to call him that. I know he's smart. I just got angry and—."

"I don't care how angry you got, kid. You don't disrespect my son that way. I know something else went down and he won't talk about it. If I find out that you hurt him…" Burt trailed off, eyes still not having left Blaine's. "Before I could trust you to take care of my son. To make sure he was taking care of himself. I felt like Kurt was in _good hands_. I know he's been slacking on certain things, I know he's been difficult, I know he's hurting still. But at least I knew that you were there… to make sure he was at least eating when you were home. That you'd make sure he got at least a _few_ hours of sleep at night. I knew that you loved him, were providing for him. I thought he was _safe_ here with you. After Friday night, I don't know how safe I think is he now, Blaine."

Blaine snapped, no longer able to hold it in. He could barely hold it in until Burt quit talking. "I don't know what else you think happened, but I would _never_ hurt Kurt! I said something stupid, but I would never lay my hand on him, I would never hurt him like that. The fact that you're even saying this to me makes me sick to my stomach! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my _life_!"

"I'm just letting you know that if I ever find out you did—."

"Why are you even here? We had a _fight_! I called him an idiot, he called me a coward! We yelled! We yelled and he stormed off and I went after him and he got his dog! We yelled some more and he left! I have never laid one hand on your son! Not like that!" Blaine shouted, now standing. His stomach was twisted into knots and he could feel his hands shaking. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair at all. Blaine didn't deserve this. " _Never_! Yes, it's difficult! Sometimes I want to punch a hole in the wall because he refuses to put his damn sketchbook down and eat or sleep! But I would _never_ put a hand on him like that!"

"You disrespect him like that, why should I think you won't?" Burt questioned, eyeing him.

"IT WAS A FIGHT! We had a fight! He disrespected me as much as I disrespected him!" Blaine voice rose even more. He hadn't even known he was capable of being so loud or so angry.

Not good.

Very not good.

"My son would never look you in the face and tell you that you weren't smart, like you didn't matter. I won't handle anyone treating him like that. Am I making myself clear? At the end of the day, kid, if I want him to break up with you, I'll have it. I'll pack his stuff myself and he'll live in Lima and I'll pay to send him to New York next year if that's what _I_ want! Because it's _my_ job to protect him, even if that means protecting him from you. If I don't feel like my son is safe with you, he won't _be_ with you." His boyfriend's father spoke in a calm voice, but the anger was evident in his face.

If Blaine hadn't been so angry, he would have been very scared. He was experiencing an adrenaline rush like no other, though, as he continued on. "You want your son to be safe? You want to protect him? Tell him to not be at school all hours of the night! Is that safe enough for you? Maybe he can walk to his car alone and get raped this time! Or maybe this time someone will actually kill him! Is that safe? Isn't it your job as his father to protect him? Protect him from _that_!"

Finally Burt's voice rose. "Don't talk to me like that! The real reason you're mad is you think Kurt's off sneaking around!"

There was no way Blaine was backing down now. He was to angry and upset by the entire situation to do that. "The reason I'm mad right now is you thinking it's okay to run to the rescue any time the smallest thing happens! How is he supposed to grow up with your holding his hand every time he gets his ego hurt?"

"Kurt is growing up just fine on his own."

Blaine scoffed loudly. "No! No, he's not! He's not growing up and he's not taking care of himself! He's in this nice protected bubble his Daddy's made for him! You're not always going to be there to grab his hand! He's never going to take care of himself! If you want Kurt to ever take care of stuff himself and grow up, _stop this_! You have no right to be here! You have no right to come to our house and yell at me! Let him clean up his own damn messes and take care of himself! Maybe if you didn't get involved in every aspect of his life, practically putting a metaphorical band aid on everything that goes wrong—Maybe he'd grow the fuck up! Every time you do this, no matter how much better he's gotten, he takes fifteen leaps back!"

"He's my son and I have the right to get involved if I want!"

"No! No! You don't! He may be your son but he is not a little boy! The second he moved out of your house you lost that right! You have _no right_ to drive out here to try to intimidate me!"

"It _is_ my right to protect my son!"

Blaine finally lowered his voice, arms crossing over his chest. "No. You're not protecting him. If anything, you're hurting him. That, and you crossed a line. If Kurt and I got involved in _your_ stuff, how would you feel? What if Finn told you how to spend your paycheck? What if Kurt and I told you and Carole how to live your lives?"

Burt took a deep breath and lowered his own voice, eyes narrowed. "The issue at hand is not that. The issue is you not showing my boy the respect he deserves two nights ago. I trust my son to make good decisions. If Kurt is staying after school to do homework, then I trust that he's doing that and that he's being safe about it."

"It's amazing." Blaine said, letting out a hollow laugh. "Now I see where Kurt gets it from. Now it _all_ makes sense. Thank you, oh so much, for clearing this up."

If possible, Burt looked madder than he had the entire time they'd been arguing. He stomped towards the door and pulled it open. "You just remember what I said, Blaine."

"You have a nice day too, sir!" Blaine called cheerfully. The second he heard Burt's car start, he banged his head several times into the wall. He had decided he was having the worst week of his life.

* * *

"Hello." Burt grunted coming into his kitchen several hours later, tugging his jacket off and throwing it over the counter. He tried to maintain a normal voice as he spoke, not wanting his son to sense something was off. Not that Kurt would _know_ Burt had gone to see Blaine, but his kid was pretty damn smart. Burt knew Kurt would find out eventually, but that day didn't have to be today. "Dinner smells good."

"Thanks, hon." Carole said, smiling warmly at Kurt. Kurt, however, was just sitting at the table and staring into his cup of herbal tea. His eyes were red and puffy. Burt got the feeling he'd been crying not too long before. Burt had began to feel slightly guilty an hour into his drive home, but seeing his son so upset still took that guilt right away. He'd done the right thing. No one messed with his son.

"Hey there, kiddo." Burt said a little louder, going over and awkwardly patting down some of Kurt's hair.

Kurt sighed and grabbed his cup. "I think I'm going to go lay down. I don't feel very good." He stood up.

"Dinner will be done in half an hour, sweetie." Carole said gently, patting his arm as he walked past.

"Thanks, Carole." Kurt whispered before disappearing upstairs.

Burt watched Kurt disappear up the stairs and let out a long sigh. "How was he today? Did he say anything else?"

"No." Carole said quietly, shaking her head and she stirred the content on the stove. "Not really. He's been very quiet for the most part. He cried for a while about an hour ago… I think you're right. More happened than he let on. I'm worried about him."

"I'm worried about him too." Burt grunted, glancing up in the direction of the stairs. "That's why I went to see Blaine today."

"Burt, no." Carole gasped, turning to face him. "I told you to not get involved in this!"

"I had to, Carole! Look at him!" Burt said in as quiet of a voice as he could. The last thing anyone needed was for Kurt to find out about his and Blaine's argument. And there was no way around that—that had been a full blown _fight_. "He's not even being sarcastic. Something happened. I had to talk to Blaine."

"Burt, no. No." she repeated. "What did you say? What did you do? Is he okay?"

"Carole, he did something to Kurt."

"No. No, he didn't." Carole whispered harshly, glaring at him. "They had an argument. Kurt said himself that he was just as rude to Blaine."

"I think something else happened." Burt said gruffly. "I think that Blaine has been getting physical with him."

Carole reached over and turned the pot down to simmer, and turned her full attention to him. "Please tell me you didn't go over to Blaine and Kurt's house and accuse that sweet boy of hitting Kurt."

Burt looked at her, shocked, and then spoke in an even voice. "I just asked him what happened."

"What did you say?"

"I told him what I thought! I told him that he disrespected my son and that if I ever found out he laid a hand on him—."

" _You can't just go and get involved in stuff like this_!" Carole whispered again, voice frantic. "Why didn't you listen to me? Kurt is nineteen! He lives on his own, Burt!"

"If it were Finn—."

"Finn and Rachel break up twice a year, Burt, and I don't even say a word about it. Why? They're young adults. It is their decision what they do and how they do it!" Carole exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Blaine didn't lay a hand on your son, Burt! Blaine _loves_ Kurt more than life itself. It's painfully obvious how in love he is with Kurt and sometimes I think Kurt could do a tiny bit more to show his appreciation. How could you do this?"

Burt opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think it better to keep his mouth shut.

"Watch this. I've got to call Blaine and make sure he's alright. I can't believe you did this. You just made this ten times worse. I can't believe you had the bright idea to get involved in your teenage son's love life."

"Carole—."

"No. We're not finished. We'll be talking about this later tonight, Burt. Watch the dinner!" Carole pointed a finger at the stove, gave her husband an angry look, and then abruptly left the room.

* * *

"Alright, Anderson. Get in here." David sighed, holding his front door open for his short best friend later that same night. "What's this about a nervous breakdown? And no, I don't have whipped cream so don't ask for it."

Blaine trudged into the room, frowning and pulling off his scarf. "Kurt likes scarves, you know?"

"Fuck. Hold on." David left the room, coming back with his laptop. "This is going to require Wes, isn't it? I can tell."

"Uh-huh." Blaine said miserably, sinking onto the couch. "You'll side with Kurt is why. Wes is loyal, like a puppy. He'll always side with me."

David rolled his eyes, signing onto Skype. "Speak of the devil. There he is. Hey, Wes!"

"DAVID! AND BLAINE! Hey, I thought we had an agreement about you two cheating on me? We agreed that there would be no get togethers."

"You live across the country. Blaine lives twenty minutes away. Get your fat Asian ass over it." David said, plopping down by Blaine. "The gay one is depressed."

"It's okay, gay one. The Asian one still likes you." Wes chirped.

"This isn't funny." Blaine moaned miserably. "Don't make jokes out of it."

"Well tell us what's wrong and we'll be the judges of that." David said calmly. "Our full attention is on you, Anderson."

Blaine took a deep breath, attempting to gather his thoughts, before he began. It seemed like he couldn't think straight since his 'run in' with Burt earlier that day. "Firstly, we're all aware of my thoughts on Kurt and his _Home Wrecker_ , right?"

David rolled his eyes and Wes just shook his head. They were all very familiar with the subject—a little _too_ familiar in their opinion, as it was mostly all Blaine could talk about lately.

Blaine chose to ignore them and continued on, rolling his own eyes. "It's true. So just accept it. Friday Kurt and I got into a big fight… He was trying to ease the tension, but I was…"

"An ass?" David offered.

"The biggest of asses." Wes nodded before Blaine could even confirm nor deny.

"How can you tell?" The shortest boy asked miserably.

"Every time you're an ass you get this puppy look." David explained. "Your eyes are all big and you frown like that."

"But continue." Wes added, almost eagerly. "Don't let us interrupt."

Blaine nodded and began again, feeling more and more guilty as he spoke. "I was an ass… He kept telling me to say what I really thought about the whole _Home Wrecker_ thing and… I wouldn't. So he called me a coward, and it kind of struck a nerve. I told him he was an idiot for thinking I didn't know what was going on."

David actually hit himself on the head repeatedly. "Blaine, why would you… just… Go on."

"And he started to cry." Blaine sighed heavily.

"You made Kurt cry?" Wes looked at him, shocked. "But he's such a little thing. I mean, I know he's taller. But he's like the baby of our little foursome."

"Foursome?" Blaine questioned.

"Kurt's pretty much a part of our group now." David shrugged. "We've always liked him a lot. You know that. We text him occasionally, he texts us. Not as much as we talk to you, but we'd consider him a good friend."

Blaine sighed. Normally he would have felt excited over this tidbit of information, and he knew Kurt would have been very excited to hear his friends talk about him this way. But he was just too depressed to even properly react. "Well, yes. I suppose I made the baby of the foursome cry… and then when he was leaving I told him that… I wish he'd gone to New York."

David gasped, turning to look at him. Whatever Wes had in his hands fell to the ground and his jaw dropped.

" _Why would you say something like that_?" David asked, eyes wide.

"I don't know! It just came out!" Blaine exclaimed, looking even more upset. "I was so angry and it just came out. As soon as I said it h-he left and I tried to get him to stay but he wouldn't."

"Of course he wouldn't." David said, still staring at him in shock. "You told him you wished he lived in New York."

"Hey, now." Wes said very seriously. "Blaine was upset. People say stuff when they're upset. It's okay, Blaine. Just give him some time to calm down and then you can apologize."

"I can't believe you. You really are an idiot sometimes, Blaine." David said, practically speaking over Wes. He even went as far as to turn the computer volume down, prompting several scoffs from Wes.

"I'm not finished." Blaine said miserably. "So earlier today Kurt's dad came by… and we… got into it. I don't think I've ever shouted at someone like that in my _life_."

"Wait… Kurt's _dad_ came and you fought with him? What did he say?" Wes questioned after David turned the laptop speakers back up.

"Kurt told him that I called him an idiot and 'wouldn't say what else happened' or something. And he had the nerve to act like I _hit_ Kurt or something!" Blaine said, feeling his chest tighten all over again. "I _love_ Kurt! I try to treat him so well and h-how could anyone think I would hurt him like that?"

"You've got to be mistaken, Blaine. There's no way anyone would ever think you could do that." David said, shaking his head.

"No. He seriously thought I got physical with Kurt." Blaine sighed, blinking rapidly to keep tears from falling. "And he's like, _If I ever find out you hit him_ and _If I don't want him to be with you, he won't be with you. You disrespected him_. _He_ disrespected me by coming all the way to my house and accusing me of… just… I can't even think straight!"

"You're serious, aren't you?" Wes asked, staring blankly through the computer screen.

"Yes." Blaine said, and it came out mostly a whimper. "I'm so upset. I haven't been this upset in a long time."

"Why would he think that? I know Kurt can be dramatic but he'd never say anything like that, right?" Wes asked.

"I guess Kurt didn't tell him about the NYU thing and he jumped to conclusions." Blaine took a deep breath.

"He shouldn't have been involved in the first place." David said, looking angry. "And to drive all the way to Cincinnati to confront you? I get being protective and all, but Kurt's not sixteen anymore. That was entirely uncalled for."

"Don't even worry about it, Blaine." Wes sighed, no longer even able to think of something witty to cheer his friend up.

Blaine wiped his eyes and sniffled, feeling like everything was about to come crashing down around him. "You don't understand. We were seriously arguing. I don't think I've even argued with my own dad like that. He looked like he wanted to hit me once or twice."

"Well he had some nerve going and accusing you of hitting Kurt!" David said loudly.

"I don't know. Maybe I should just apologize."

" _No_!" Wes and David both said together.

"You can't apologize. You can't let Kurt's daddy walk in, do shit like that, say that to you, and then go apologize! He was _way_ out of line. He should apologize. You did nothing wrong, Blaine." Wes said in a firm voice, surprising both Blaine and David. "This fight was between you and Kurt. It is up to you and Kurt how you live your lives—including how you fight."

"It's none of his damn business." David added. "Don't you dare apologize."

"Did Kurt send him?" Wes asked.

Blaine scoffed and shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe. Probably not, though. Not how it went. And he showed up so early. I think he came when he was supposed to be at the garage. I don't think anyone knows but him and me. Not yet at least. Carole called and left a voice mail earlier but I couldn't even listen to it because I was so upset."

"That's not the point anyway." David said, still looking furious. David had always been pretty protective of Blaine and was the first person to have let Blaine's father have a peace of his mind after Blaine 'moved out.' At church, even. He didn't take well to people messing with Blaine. "He had no right butting into your business like that, no matter who he told."

"It was way out of line." Wes nodded. "Don't apologize."

"How can I not? How am I supposed to go to dinner on Fridays with Kurt without apologizing? I've _got to_."

"No. Don't go to them. If anyone apologizes it should be Kurt's dad. Don't you dare apologize, Blaine. You didn't do anything wrong. Couples argue all the time and mommies and daddies don't get involved." David said firmly.

"At least most people have mommies and daddies to get involved." Blaine mumbled, looking down.

"Hug him! Hug him!" Wes exclaimed, pointing at the screen. "Get on it, David!"

David reached over, giving Blaine a big hug. "Don't start a pity party, Blaine. Kurt shouldn't have run home and Kurt's dad shouldn't have gotten involved. Okay? We all know what's going to happen. Kurt will come home, you two will make up, have make up sex, and go back to being the most adorable gay couple in the world. He'll have his freak outs over clothes, you'll coo over your fishie cup, and you two will go back to cuddling every day. Then you get married, have babies, get gray hair, have grandkids¸ and then die. The end. Okay?"

"You could have left the very last thing out." Blaine mumbled into David's shoulder.

"The point is everything will work out. It's just a fight." David sighed and ruffled Blaine's hair. "Try to stay away from the drama for a bit. Don't text Kurt about it or anything. Just let everything wind down a little bit before you say anything, okay? I'm sure Kurt's dad will try to get more stuff out of Kurt and Kurt will tell him he's a fucking idiot and then Kurt will come home and everything will work out."

"Can I stay here tonight? I don't wanna be alone again." Blaine said, and David was pretty sure he heard a bit of a sniffle.

"Of course you can." Wes said through the screen, beaming.

David just rolled his eyes, hugging Blaine closer. "Sure. As long as you don't grab my ass when I try to make you leave."

"I'll try." Blaine mumbled.

"I guess that's all I can ask."

_ **Part Two** _

"Hey, hon!"

Blaine, who was sitting outside the next night and studying, looked up from his book in shock. Carole was standing in front of him, a big Tupperware bowl in her hands. He hadn't even heard a car pull up outside the apartments so the last thing he had expected was someone speaking to him. The most human contact he'd had in the past few days, excluding his brief stay with David, was an old bald man asking him where the nearest gas station was. Needless to say, he was very surprised to see Kurt's stepmother.

"Don't look so surprised, sweetie. C'mon. Let's go inside. I brought you dinner because I know you're not the master at cooking like Kurt is." Carole said, smiling warmly at him.

Blaine stood and closed his textbook wordlessly, quickly opening the front door. He held it open for her and she walked straight into the kitchen as if it were her own home, setting the dish on the counter. For a few seconds he contemplated not even looking at her, half afraid she was going to confront him about he and Kurt's fight like Burt had. He didn't think he could handle Carole displeased with him, although he was sure she probably was.

"Come here, sweetie. You about look pitiful." She approached him, pulling him into a hug. He hugged her back tightly, letting out a relieved sigh. He had never been happier to see her in his life. "How are you doing? You did eat today, right? You're taking care of yourself?"

"I'm surprised you don't hate me." Blaine mumbled. "After yesterday, I mean."

Carole looked slightly irritated. "Burt's lost his mind. I don't know what on Earth made him jump to conclusions like this but, believe me, I gave him a piece of my mind. I think he feels like getting involved is the only way to stay in Kurt's life now that he's moved out or something. I'm just _furious_ with him, Blaine. Absolutely furious. I hope you told him off good. I think he's more stubborn than Kurt and, Blaine, that is saying something."

Blaine let out another relieved sigh, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He knew he and Kurt would make up eventually, but he had been extremely worried that Burt and Carole would end up hating him. Although, he had to admit, he was unsure things would ever be back to normal with Kurt's father. "Did he… tell Kurt?"

Carole just gave him a look. "Of course not, hon. If he did that it would firstly be admitting he was wrong and secondly would be a death wish. Kurt's about two words from going off on Burt himself. He keeps trying to get Kurt to go into details about what happened and, honestly, it's none of his damn business."

"What did… Kurt say? Did he mention… New York?" Blaine sat at the table.

Carole took a seat by him. "New York? Why would he mention New York?"

Blaine sighed heavily and rubbed his face. Every single time though about those words he felt ten times worse than the time before. He really was an idiot sometimes. In this case, he had been a jealous idiot. Yeah. He was jealous. Most definitely jealous. "After… Well… I'm just stupid, Carole."

"Of course you aren't!" Carole said.

Blaine lowered his hands and looked at Carole sadly. "Kurt called me a coward because I wouldn't talk about this _guy_ that he's always talking about and hanging out with. He thinks that I think he's cheating."

"Do you?" Carole asked, in a way that led Blaine to believe she already had an inkling of this. Clearly she and Kurt had talked.

"Maybe… I mean, yes." Blaine looked down. "And then I told him he was an idiot for not thinking I knew about it… and then we fought some more… and he went to leave and I just got so mad. I told him I wish he'd moved to New York."

"Ahhh." Carole nodded, looking as if everything suddenly made more sense. "See, Kurt didn't mention that… He started to say something, I think, and stopped. He was really upset. I knew it was bigger than just calling each other names, but he didn't tell me what else happened."

"I didn't mean to say that to him. I'm just so frustrated and I feel like I'm… I'm losing him or something. I don't understand why he's always _there_. It wasn't like that last semester, so why is it like this now all of a sudden?" Blaine looked up at her, eyes big and sad. He sounded so desperate that it was heartbreaking. "I wish I hadn't said it. I wish he'd come home."

Carole reached over, pulling him in for another hug in an attempt to comfort him. "Oh, sweetie. He's coming home even if I have to make him. Don't you even worry about that. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit." Blaine admitted. He hadn't eaten all day and, now that she brought it up, he realized just how hungry he was. His stomach growled and he gave her a weak smile.

"Let's get you fed!" Carole immediately stood and went to make him a plate of food. As she did this, she continued to chat with him. "Hon, I think you should really _talk_ to Kurt about how you feel… Honesty is important."

"Kurt's not being very honest right now." Blaine mumbled.

Carole brought the plate over and sat, putting her hand on his arm. "Blaine, Kurt loves you very much. He's extremely upset by this entire thing too. I think he was trying to _stop_ this from happening."

"It sure didn't sound like that when he started it." Blaine picked at his food, staring down at it.

Carole sighed. "I know it's hard, sweetie. I know. But keeping it in and not getting your feelings out is just going to make it worse."

"Do you think he is?" Blaine looked back at her, eyes still as big and sad as before. "Do you think he's…?"

"Do I? Of course not. But _I'm_ not the one you need to be asking. Kurt is." Carole squeezed his arm. "This will all blow over soon, sweetie. I promise."

Blaine took a bite of his food and nodded. "I guess it always does."

"Don't look so sad, hon." Carole gave his arm another squeeze. "But I want you to promise me something."

"Alright." Blaine sighed. "What's that?"

"That you'll take care of yourself and that when Kurt comes back you'll talk to him. It doesn't have to be that day or the next day… but promise me that you'll talk to him about what you're feeling. I think you'll be surprised at how much better you feel."

"I'll try." Blaine promised. And he would _try_ , but he didn't see himself actually opening up enough to ask Kurt if he'd cheated. It was definitely not a discussion Blaine wanted to have. He couldn't decide if this was because he was afraid of the answer or because of the aftermath of asking the question. Either way, Blaine didn't think it would end well.

* * *

Kurt sat outside of the apartment in his car for several minutes, staring at it blankly. He was ready to go home, to see Blaine, to try to make things better. He had a feeling, though, that it wasn't going to go back to normal very quickly. He still felt his insides run cold when he thought of what Blaine had said—that Blaine wished he had gone to New York. Even if it was said in a moment of anger, it still _really_ hurt.

But maybe he had kind of brought it on himself. He hadn't approached Blaine in the nicest way. In fact, he probably shouldn't have tried to force _anything_ out of Blaine. He knew he shouldn't have called Blaine a coward. It was a low blow, and one that he felt bad about.

They hadn't actually spoken in four days. _Four_ days. Unless you counted texting Blaine to say he was in Lima and he really didn't think that counted. It wasn't that Kurt didn't _want_ to talk to him. He was just… hurt. He couldn't believe that things were so bad and that the argument was so heated that Blaine felt the need to make a comment about wishing Kurt lived in another state. Just thinking about it made him feel as though his heart was breaking. He hadn't been able to bring himself to talk to Blaine. He hadn't even told Blaine he was on his way home. Truthfully, he had been kind of hoping Blaine wouldn't be there that way he would have had some more time to mentally prepare himself. Because the drive from Lima to Cincinnati had not done a good job of that.

Kurt had to get out of the car eventually. What did he expect to do, sit in his car forever? The entire point of coming home was to _come home_. It didn't make it easier to reach over, get his puppy that wasn't so much a puppy anymore, and go into the house. He turned to look at Kreacher, who was eagerly looking out the window in the direction of the house.

"Did you miss Blaine, Kreacher?" Kurt questioned, scooping him up. "Should we go see Blaine?"

Kreacher licked his face as he pushed the car door open.

"I hope I don't regret coming home." Kurt whispered, walking to the front door and pushing it open. He didn't have to go far to find Blaine, who was sitting on the couch and blankly staring at his computer screen but clearly not _looking_ at it. He didn't even look up when the door opened so Kurt cleared his throat a bit.

Blaine's head snapped up so fast that he probably got whiplash and his eyes landed on Kurt.

"Uh… hi." Kurt said awkwardly, leaning down and setting Kreacher on the floor. The dog immediately darted off in the direction of the bathroom where he knew toilet paper would be waiting to be shredded. Neither Kurt nor Blaine could be bothered to stop him, though, and they hadn't bought the expensive vacuum for it to sit in the closet their entire lives.

"H-hey." Blaine sat his laptop down and stood, hesitantly walking towards Kurt.

"I'm…" Kurt sighed and looked Blaine directly in the eyes. He wasn't ready to say he was sorry yet. He was still trying to determine whether he had anything to be sorry for this time—although he was pretty sure he did. After all, it did take two people to fight. "I missed you… I missed you a lot."

"I missed you too, Kurt." Blaine said, relief flooding his face. He briefly extended his hand out but pulled it back almost instantly and shoved it into his pocket. He took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Kurt sighed. As long as Blaine was going to say it, Kurt figured the least he could do was to say it too. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before reopening them. "That just… I shouldn't have tried to pressure you to talk and I shouldn't have made that comment about you being a coward. I was upset… it's not an excuse… and I shouldn't… I shouldn't have left. It was really… immature. I just didn't want to deal with the aftermath of the fight is all…"

"You shouldn't be sorry… well, not for trying to talk to me." Blaine mumbled.

"I didn't exactly begin the conversation in the nicest way possible, Blaine. I thought through what I was going to say so many times and _that_ came out and it was rude and demanding. I just… I really wanted to fix things before they got to that point and, of course, I'm the one that pushed it to that point."

"You were frustrated. It's understandable. I made it get to that point. I wasn't exactly approachable. I haven't been for a while." Blaine pulled his hand out of his pocket, grabbed Kurt's hand and led him to the couch. "I think we need to talk about this."

"Can't we talk about it later?" Kurt asked. He knew they had to talk about it. But he was more than a little afraid it would lead to an even bigger argument than the one they'd had four days before. He didn't think he had it in him to hear something else like that, to cry for four more days.

"If we don't talk about it, we'll just put it off… and things will fester and blow up." Blaine answered. "I think we need to talk about it _now_."

Kurt nodded and moved so he was facing Blaine on the couch, sitting Indian style. Blaine turned to face him as well and they sat, knees pressed against each other. "Well… I guess I can start. I just didn't know how to deal with you ignoring me and… and hinting at _things_ … and starting tiny, silly arguments. I felt like no matter what I did, you were still going to take it in a negative way. And I've felt like that since you first found out that I was staying late to work on the project… You don't usually act like this. I've _never_ seen you act like this. I was just trying to talk it out so we could, you know… move past it. So that's why I tried to get you to talk about it. But I went about it in the complete wrong way and, really, the moment the talk began like that it had been set up to be… bad."

Blaine nodded. "It was set up to be bad… but I shouldn't have made it go that far."

"You didn't make it go that far. We _both_ made it go that far…"

"Kurt, I don't really wish that you had gone to New York." Blaine said quietly, making eye contact with him. "I don't."

"You said it in the heat of an argument though, Blaine… people only do that when they've been… thinking about it." The last part of Kurt's statement came out barely above a whisper, and he looked away.

"Sometimes I wonder if NYU would have been best for you." Blaine admitted. "Sometimes I think if you'd gone to NYU you'd be happier and in a better place."

"In a better place?" Kurt mumbled, not looking up. How could anywhere have been better without Blaine there?

"If you're going to be gone all the time anyway, you might as well be somewhere where you're happy." Blaine looked away as well.

"I'm _fine_. The only thing that is wrong with me right now is this thing between us." Kurt said, shocked.

Blaine opened his mouth, as if he was going to speak, but closed it. Kurt got the feeling there was something he wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to actually do it. Finally, he spoke again. "It's so stressful, Kurt. This whole thing stresses me out. You taking so many classes, you never being home, never knowing if you've eaten or slept enough, and now… this thing. Sometimes I think if you were at NYU there would be…"

"What?" Kurt tried to maintain an even voice even though his chest was tightening. He couldn't decide if the talk was making him sad or angry. It was probably a little bit of both, but he was trying his hardest to not give any snarky responses. This wasn't the time. Because even if it wasn't about the Alec thing, he could tell that Blaine was opening up about something else—something possibly bigger?

"That maybe you'd take care of yourself better. Maybe you'd be able to get out of this _thing_ you're in." Blaine said softly.

"What thing?" Kurt asked, voice rising a bit. He had to remind himself to lower it the next time he spoke. They were talking, not arguing. _Talking_.

"Kurt, come on." Blaine sighed. "Don't take this there. Can't you just take what I have to say and listen? That's why I think you'd do better in New York. You'd _have_ to take care of yourself because no one would be there to do it for you. I don't _want_ you to go to New York. I just think that you'd be… better off."

Kurt took a deep breath, feeling stressed out. He once again refused to make eye contact. He liked to think that he _did_ take care of himself. He didn't ask Blaine to stay up late. He didn't ask Blaine to make sure he ate. He was a big boy. It was his own responsibility, not Blaine's. It wasn't something Blaine needed to be stressed about.

Finally, he spoke again. "That's fair, I guess… That you're stressed, I mean. But you don't need to be. It's not your responsibility."

"I'm supposed to take care of you." Blaine challenged. "But I don't want to dwell on this right now. It's not even related to our fight the other day. Not really."

Kurt nodded, although he had the feeling it was a little more closely related than Blaine would have admitted. "Fine. Then that's besides the point… But some of the other stuff isn't fair, Blaine. I would never… I just…" He trailed off, unable to finish. How could he even fathom having a conversation about how he would never cheat on Blaine? How could Blaine ever truly think he would?

"Look, the main thing is that argument never should have gotten as big as it did." Blaine sighed once again. "But it did, and that is where we're at now."

Kurt finally looked up at him and nodded. "That's where we're at now."

"Are we okay?" Blaine whispered.

"We'll always be okay eventually." Kurt leaned forward, kissing him quickly.

Blaine kissed back briefly before pulling away. "Can you just… try to be home a little more? That way I know you're taking care of yourself? That way I know you're eating and sleeping?"

"You don't understand that I'm doing school work there so I _can_ spend more time at home." Kurt tried to explain, grabbing his hands. "If I get it done at school, when I'm home we can spend time together."

"But that isn't really happening." Blaine sighed. "Because you're rarely home."

"I'm home as much as I can be. It's really hard for me to get stuff done with you and Kreacher here." Kurt sighed. "But I'll try to be home more, okay?"

"Thanks." Blaine said softly, nodding.

"I'll make dinner." Kurt turned himself and then stood up, unable to even think clearly anymore. "It shouldn't be too long."

"Okay." Blaine said softly, nodding. "I'm going to finish my reading then."

Kurt ruffled his hair before walking off, not feeling the sense of relief he thought he would after the discussion of the argument. There hadn't really been a resolution. There had been apologies, words had been exchanged, but Kurt didn't feel that any real progress had been made.

At least, he thought to himself, they hadn't argued or yelled. That in itself had to be progress, right?

* * *

Blaine had thought that after their talk things would get better. They had both been upset by the explosive argument. That much was very clear. After the post-fight discussion he had expected Kurt to be home from school more. Instead, Kurt wasn't home any more before and _now_ he didn't even sleep in the same bed with him. It was incredibly frustrating that they had had what was supposed to be a heartfelt discussion and that _nothing_ had come out of it. In fact, it was worthless. Kurt wouldn't even sleep in the same room with him! No, instead he would fall asleep at the kitchen table with his sketchbook or asleep on the couch with the Kreacher curled up at his side. He hadn't expected things to become back to normal after their huge fight, but he _had_ expected them to get somewhat better.

Blaine was still bothered by the fact that Kurt was still staying after school. Kurt didn't dare talk about funny conversations he had on breaks like normal, but there was just something in the air. He knew Alec was there too and he still had suspicions Kurt was eager to stay after school for his… company. He was finding it harder to ignore his frustrations each time Kurt walked through the door at nine or ten or eleven. But, he reminded himself, he had been miserable during their last fight when Kurt had left. Absolutely miserable. Anger was better than misery. Right?

"You're being really quiet today." Kurt said a few days later, coming into the kitchen. It was Saturday, Blaine had steadily refused to go to Friday Night Dinner the day before, (which had really frustrated Kurt, who was obviously still clueless about Blaine and Burt's argument) and Blaine had—true to Kurt's words—been very quiet. He didn't see how he was supposed to be cheerful, though, considering their talk had done nothing. Not a freaking thing.

Okay. Maybe they hadn't so much talked about him spending time at school—time with Alec, he mentally corrected. And maybe he had turned the conversation to anything else he could grasp to avoid talking about the… thing. They'd beaten around the bush. Blaine was very good at beating around the bush. How else would he have gone so long without explaining why he'd been arrested several years ago?

"Blaine?" Kurt questioned.

"What?" Blaine asked, letting out a very audible sigh. "What do you want, Kurt?"

"What's wrong?" Kurt came forward and sat beside him at the table.

"The same thing that has _been wrong_." Blaine snapped. Kurt _had_ to be playing innocent. There was no way he couldn't know what was wrong. He wasn't stupid. Just hard headed.

Kurt straightened a bit. "What did I do? I'm not going to campus today. It's Saturday. I got everything done yesterday."

"Exactly. What time did you get home?" Blaine questioned.

"Don't start this." Kurt stood. "We were going to calmly talk about it five days ago and _you_ went off on another thing. You had your time to handle it like a grown up and you let that time pass. You brought New York into it."

"Of course I brought New York into it! That's why I said that about New York!" Blaine exclaimed. "I wasn't just pulling things out of thin air!"

"You were supposed to talk about why we were _fighting_!" Kurt exclaimed as well.

"And you were supposed to stay home more! You promised that you would be home more! That you would do work at home!"

"I've been bringing it home! I've been bringing it home and staying up getting it done because it takes me longer here! That's why I want to work on stuff there because there are—."

"Distractions! Yeah, I know!" Blaine scoffed. "I find that hilarious given the distractions you have _there_."

"Oh? Oh? What distractions, Blaine? Enlighten me!"

"You're seeing him!"

"Seeing as in he's in my line of vision?"

"I mean you're dragging him into a janitor's closet and _fucking_ him!" Blaine shouted. He hated that expression for it—fucking someone. There was no emotion behind it. And to think that Kurt was doing—that—with that—person.

" _What did you just say_?" Kurt shrieked, roughly pushing the chair he had been sitting in under the table.

"I said you and your little gay friend are running off and fucking!"

" _How can you say that to me after you're the one who told me to get a friend? Who said I'd be happier? And I make a friend a-and I'm happier and you accuse me of cheating?"_

"When I said get a friend I didn't mean a fuck buddy!"

Kurt visibly flinched, taking several steps back. "You have _no right_ to—to say anything, Blaine! You have no reason—you don't even—I— _how can you_ —."

"You can't say anything because you know it's true!" Blaine stood, gesturing angrily.

" _Blaine!_ Please!" Kurt whimpered. "I would never cheat on you!"

"Oh? Oh? You've known why I was upset for weeks! Why not say anything?" Blaine moved closer.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that I haven't cheated on you! You should know I haven't cheated on you because you should know me!" Kurt took another step back. "I live with you, I love you! I'm not cheating on you, Blaine! You should know that! If I wanted to be with someone else I would leave you and then be with them! Not sneak around behind your back!"

"Kurt, it doesn't make sense! You work on a project with him, always talked about him before the last fight, and you always stay after school to 'work on homework' even though the project was done. And you're so much happier! Just—Just admit it, Kurt! Just admit that you're having an affair!"

Kurt attempted to move past him, but Blaine kept side stepping so the younger boy couldn't leave.

"You wanted to talk about it! Let's talk! Who made the first move? Does he fuck you or do you fuck him?"

"Stop it! Stop it!" Kurt roughly pushed past him. "I hate when you're angry like this!"

"Sorry I'm not always perfect, Kurt! Newsflash: You aren't perfect either! And when you push someone so many times it's bound to happen!" Blaine grabbed his arm. He didn't grab it hard at all—he just gently grabbed it to keep Kurt from walking away. "Let's _talk_ about it, Kurt! Let's talk about how I sit up waiting until you get home making sure you make it home! But do you thank me or even care? You don't because you're out fucking that _home wrecker_!"

"I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH ANYONE BUT YOU!" Kurt finally shrieked. "I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH ANYONE BUT YOU! I AM _NOT HAVING SEX WITH ANYONE BUT YOU!_ IN FACT, I BARELY EVEN HAVE SEX WITH YOU!"

Blaine took in a deep breath, only looking angrier. "Stop lying!"

"IF ANYONE SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT SOMEONE SLEEPING AROUND, IT'S ME! LOOK AT YOUR PAST! LOOK AT HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU HAD SEX WITH JUST BECAUSE IT FELT GOOD! HAS SOMEONE WALKED UP TO YOU RECENTLY? DID YOU HAVE SEX WITH THEM?"

"Don't you do that!" Blaine's voice rose even more. "Don't you fucking bring my past into this!"

"Your past has _everything_ to do with this!" Tears filled Kurt's eyes. "That's the only thing that can explain you being so paranoid! Are you accusing me b-because you're cheating? Are you having sex with someone, Blaine? Because if either of us would cheat it would be you because you're sex obsessed!"

"Of course I'm sex obsessed! I'm a nineteen year old guy living with his gorgeous boyfriend! I _usually_ sleep in the same freaking bed with you and I've barely had any sex in three months!"

"You didn't answer my question!" Several tears fell down Kurt's face.

"No! No, I'm not having sex with anyone! But I think that _you_ are!"

"I'm not! I'm not h-h-having sex with anyone!" Kurt's face crumbled. "I've loved you since the day I met you! I have never l-loved anyone like I love y-you and I n-never will, Blaine! I wouldn't risk l-losing you over something like s-sex! He's nothing! He—He's a friend, Blaine! Why don't you believe me?"

"I just don't! I just find it hard to believe you're not cheating! He clearly makes you happier than I do! Clearly you'd rather spend more time two hours away from me, sitting across from him! Well if you want him that bad, go take him!"

"Please, Blaine. Please, don't s-say things like that b-because I don't like it! How could you ever think I'd do that?" Kurt whimpered. " _Please_."

"I can't stop saying things like this! You have pushed me to this!"

"I can't d-do this. I don't c-care if it's immature. I'm getting out of here."

"Run home to daddy, sweetheart! At least you've got a daddy to run home to! What do I have? Nothing! And why is that? _You!_ "

Kurt didn't say anything. He didn't even look at Blaine, just rushed past him. This time, though, Blaine didn't feel the urge to go after him. He angrily punched the refrigerator and let out a groan of frustration. He knew in an hour or two the argument would hit him like a ton of bricks. Soon he would feel awful about what he'd said, and soon he'd also feel awful about what Kurt had said—about his past, how he was more likely to cheat. Then, though, all he could worry about was the fact that the 3:00 deadline for posting his homework assignment had passed and Kurt had, yet again, caused another problem for him.

* * *

If there was one thing Kurt knew he would never do again, it was staying over at Finn and Puck's dorm. It wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go, though, and they had been more than willing to risk getting into trouble to have Kurt stay. He had suspicions this was because they needed the place cleaned, but he was just grateful that he didn't have to find somewhere else to go—namely, his parents house.

Kurt had gotten there the night before. Unlike the first fight in which Kurt had been incredibly upset and hurt, Kurt was _pissed_. Livid, angry, whatever you wanted to call it. The drive hadn't been spent crying about how mean Blaine was. Instead it had been spent silently fuming about the fact that Blaine Anderson was the biggest asshole on the entire planet.

It was Kurt's fault Blaine's parents were jerks? No, it wasn't. Kurt had asked Blaine to move back to Ohio when he was on drugs. Blaine could have said no if he'd really wanted to. Sure, Kurt probably would have cried. But he was to the point now where he barely remembered anything about the hospital visit. And if Blaine was going to act like that now, maybe Kurt wished Blaine hadn't done came back in the first place.

No. That was taking it too far. And maybe Blaine had said exactly the right thing. Truthfully, Kurt always brought Blaine's past into things and it probably—okay, it _wasn't_ usually justified. Blaine had done the exact same thing to him. Now he knew how it felt to have something thrown in his face. It felt like shit. Blaine had to know, though, that it wasn't solely Kurt's fault his family didn't speak to him. If it hadn't been Kurt it would have been another boy, another drama, and another excuse for them to cut Blaine off. He knew this for a fact. It was only a matter of time.

And for Blaine to actually accuse him of cheating? To look him in the face and say—okay, shout—it? To say that Kurt was _fucking Alec in a janitor's closet_? Clearly Blaine had lost his mind on some desert island. Fucking? Kurt Hummel did not fuck. And if he were to _fuck_ , it sure wouldn't be in a janitor's closet. Nonetheless with Alec Davis. He didn't even know Alec that well.

Besides, Kurt really liked _making love_ with Blaine. It wasn't just sex. It was… It was love. There was emotion behind it. It was breathtaking, it was sweet, it was gentle, it was perfect, it was _them_. He couldn't imagine making love with anyone but Blaine. He didn't _want_ to imagine making love with anyone but Blaine. And he couldn't imagine himself ever having sex with Blaine simply for the sake to have emotionless sex to get off. Everything he and Blaine did was _filled_ with emotion. Fucking was emotionless sex. No. Just. No. Blaine was an idiot. As if Kurt would _fuck_ anyone, and as if he would make love to anyone but Blaine. Never. No.

Just. No.

He was past upset and hurt. He was definitely hurt by the accusation. By the fact that Blaine could even think he would do something like that. But he was more pissed than hurt. He had _never_ been so angry before in his life. Not even the time his dad hid all of his designer clothes before telling Kurt he'd sold them all to pay off the credit card Kurt had used at the age of sixteen for a fashion emergency. And Kurt had been pretty damn pissed then.

He was attempting to calm down though, if only for the fact that Finn was so sick of hearing the words "Blaine" and "ass" in the same sentence. He had distracted himself from his anger for three hours the day before straightening up the dorm room but even Kurt had to admit defeat when he hadn't been able to get the questionable gunk off of the 'table' and the smell out of the air. There wasn't enough Febreeze and Lysol in the world.

Distractions. That was what Kurt needed to stop himself from calling Blaine and becoming the bitchiest that Kurt had ever been. It was lurking. Kurt had to work very hard to keep it in.

While he would have loved to call Blaine, scream until he was hoarse, and then hang up on the older boy he was refraining. Kurt had not been perfect. Blaine had retaliated. Kurt retaliated all the time. Blaine didn't scream his head off when Kurt retaliated in the past. He was just going to have to play the waiting game. He was going to have to wait until he had been distracted well enough that his anger had ebbed away. Then he would _rationally_ consider the argument they had just had—or at least try to. He found himself unable to remember half of the angry shouts. It was jumbled in his mind and he couldn't put the pieces together quite then.

He would just think about what had happened, he would calm himself, and he would go home. He would go home and attempt to have another heart-to-heart with Blaine. And they would either come to a resolution or Kurt would find himself once again in the middle of a fight he had no idea how to handle. Either way, he knew after he went home this time there would be no leaving. Mainly because he didn't have anywhere else to go.

Kurt was desperate for distractions that would cause his anger to subside. Deep down he really did want to go home. He was just so angry. The fact that he'd spent hours straightening Finn and Puck's apartment and it was now almost as bad as it had been the night before was definitely not helping. Nor the fact that it smelled like nasty gym socks.

"It _reeks_ in here. And there are dirty socks _everywhere_." Kurt scrunched his nose up, staring around the small dormitory bedroom. "I just straightened up yesterday. How did you two manage to destroy it again so quickly?

"Well, duh." Puck said, rolling his eyes. "Finn and I are two dudes living together."

"Well my apartment looks nothing like this and I live with another 'dude. Kurt retorted. "And how many socks can two people possibly go through in a day?"

"Well your dude is gay or bi or whatever." Puck challenged, not even bothering to answer the sock question.

"That 'dude' has a name." Finn pointed out from where he was sprawled out on his unmade bed. Kurt hoped for the sake of sanitary reasons that those blankets had been washed since the start of term, but he knew it was doubtful.

"Right. Blaine Warbler." Puck shrugged a bit. "Feel free to tidy up a bit, bro."

"I am not your bro. The only reason I'm here is I don't want Dad breathing down my neck about _Blaine_ and I getting into another argument." Kurt had to refrain from making a sour face as he said his boyfriend's name. He loved Blaine, he truly did. But every time he replayed the older boy's words in his mind, he would either get incredibly angry. He found himself wanting to hit Blaine upside the head several times with something heavy but he had to remind himself that that would be illegal and that he loved Blaine's head too much to ever hurt it. Even if Blaine's head was very stupid right now.

"I still don't get why he thinks your cheating." Finn said through a mouthful of chips. The chips came from a bag that he pulled from under his bed, causing Kurt to shudder with disgust. He could only imagine what else was under there.

"Yeah, you two need to make up." Puck added, reaching over and grabbing some of the chips. "You're… is the word cute when it's two guys? Yeah. You're cute."

"Now that we've established what I need to do, let's establish what you need to do." Kurt said irritably. "Stop talking to Quinn. She's got a boyfriend, Noah. And you're going to create a big mess. What ever happened to Lauren? I thought you were madly in love with her."

Puck scowled, but the look didn't seem to be aimed at Kurt. "We're on another break. Only I think this one might be a break up."

"Dude, you didn't tell me you and Lauren broke up _or_ that you were talking to Quinn. Since when are you talking to Quinn? Not cool, dude." Finn sat up straight.

"The break or break up is recent." Puck shrugged nonchalantly. "And I've been talking to Quinn off and on since around Christmas time."

"Why?" Finn and Kurt asked together.

"WewenttoseeBeth." Puck said quickly.

"Oh my God." Kurt excitedly sat on Puck's bed. "Did you get pictures? Whose eyes did she have? How big was she? Was she talking? Can I see?"

"Chill, Lance Bass." Puck fished his phone out of his pocket and clicked on the screen several times before showing Kurt a picture of an adorable toddler.

"Oh my God." Kurt cooed, taking the phone and staring at the picture with a silly smile on his face. "Oh my God. She is _precious_."

"She is." Puck took the phone back and snapped it shut, frowning. "We just wanted to see her and then we talked about… having her and giving her up. That's it. We're just talking. There is absolutely no reason to jump on the rumor bandwagon, Hummel. I'm not about to confess my undying love for her."

There it was. He had found the perfect distraction from Blaine and any argument involving his boyfriend. He had found something to take his mind off of his anger. And it was something _fun_. Kurt knew exactly where this was going. He knew he was going to get to play matchmaker again.

"Is there undying love?" Kurt asked eagerly. "Oh my _God_ , Noah! Are you in love with Quinn? You have to tell me now! You can't just say something like that! Because if you are, you should know I'm great at setting people up. I even have references! Remember David? Well I introduced he and Mercedes officially on New Years and I'm more than certain they'll be dating within the month. They're doing this endearing texting back and forth thing. And my dad and Carole! I practically set myself up with Blaine if you think about it—only clearly I shouldn't use us as an example because we're fighting, and—."

"I. Am. Not. In. Love. With. Quinn." Puck said firmly, interrupting him. "I will never be in love with Quinn again."

"Again? Aw, you were in love with her." Kurt sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry, Noah. I've got this."

"Ten minutes ago you told me to never talk to her." Puck arched his eyebrow. "Why the sudden change of mind?"

"That was before I knew you had an undying love for her!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Puck, you've got Kurt on a mission now. Way to go." Finn grumbled. "Now we're going to expect calls from him on the hour with Quinn updates after he goes home. It'll be worse than hearing him call Blaine an asshole for hours on end."

"He calls me every hour, I break his fingers." Puck threatened, giving Kurt a look that was clearly meant to scare him.

"He didn't deny it!" Kurt threw his hands in the air, unbothered by Puck's glare. "Oh God! You're so in love with her! Poor Lauren though…. But you're in love with Quinn! Don't worry. I'll get the scoop. I happen to know Quinn and her boytoy had an argument last week. We're already all having a Skype date during your football practice to cheer me up, but I'm sure I can get some info out of her. And if not today, definitely seen. I'll keep you posted."

"You don't seem to need cheering up now." Puck grumbled. "I'd rather you not get involved, Hummel."

"Dude, you got him involved when you gave the slightest reaction after the mention of Quinn's name." Finn sighed. "He loves playing matchmaker. Apparently it's his second calling."

"And I'm fabulous at it." Kurt said cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "Excellent. This is _just_ what I need."

"Wait, Rachel won't be involved in this Skype date right?" Finn asked warily.

"What, do you think I'm an idiot?" Kurt scoffed. "Rachel and Quinn on the same Skype chat? No thank you. Besides, she'd only make it worse…. But why?"

"Well, she kind of hinted that she was glad you were fighting with Blaine and that she hoped it stayed that way." Finn said sheepishly, looking like he regretted bringing it up. "I don't think that'd make you feel any better about Blaine."

"Excuse me?" Kurt's mouth dropped open in shock.

"She wants to be the cutest couple. I told her that was stupid though, dude."

Kurt scowled, cheerful mood gone instantly. "She really said that?"

"You must be stupid, bro." Puck said, looking over at Finn. "Why would you tell him that?"

"I've been hearing that a lot lately." Finn sighed and gave a hopeless sort of shrug. "Mom says I shouldn't be allowed to make contact with humans sometimes."

"I can't believe Rachel said that." Kurt repeated, barely hearing Finn and Puck's conversations. What business was it of hers if they fought or not? He knew Rachel could be… well, Rachel… but it was just ridiculous for her to say that.

"Yeah. 'Cause no one is cuter than you and Blaine." Puck said. "No one."

Finn snorted loudly. "I think someone has a crush on your relationship, Kurt."

"Well, thank you, Noah. I think we're pretty cute too." Kurt flashed Puck an adorable grin. He knew there was a reason he liked Puck.

* * *

"Stop looking at me like that." Blaine sighed, arms crossed over his chest and sitting up straight in bed. He may or may not have been on Kurt's side of the bed because it smelled like him¸ but he'd never admit that —if he were, that is.

Kreacher, who was lying miserably on the opposite end of the bed and looking at Blaine with big puppy eyes, scooted closer and whined.

"No." Blaine shook his head. "Absolutely not."

Kreacher just scooted even closer, whining louder. He had been very quiet since Kurt had left the day before, sulking around and whining for Kurt. If Blaine hadn't despised the evil dog so much he would have felt bad for it. As it was, though, Kreacher was still Blaine's number one enemy.

"Kreacher, you're not making this any easier." Blaine sighed as Kreacher finally reached Blaine and started nuzzling his side, right under Blaine's arm. "You are _not_ laying with me."

In response, Kreacher stood and turned around three times before settling down with his little head rested on Blaine's waist.

"I can't tell who is more spoiled, you or Kurt." Blaine surrendered and began petting Kreacher's head. "I don't like you, you know? I think you are a very, very mean dog. You go around and eat my things and steal what little time Kurt has at home from me. You also never let me _or_ Kurt leave because you bite onto our socks when we're putting them on. This is _not_ _cool_."

Kreacher just put his paw over one ear, clearly signaling that he was not listening.

"I'm going to bring home a cat. A _kitten_. And he will be much cuter than you. And much tinier. And he will see right through your evil little games. Got that? Do you understand, you evil dog?"

Kreacher scrambled onto his chest and put his front legs on Blaine's face.

"Now you're trying to kill me." Blaine grunted, struggling to move Kreacher off of his face. This only resulted in Kreacher animatedly crawling all over him, yipping playfully.

"I bet Kurt put you up to this, huh?" Blaine grunted, finally grasping the dog in his hands and pulling him into the air. Kreacher stared down at him, legs still kicking and tail wagging. Finally, he sat Kreacher next to him on the bed and curled up with the dog. "He's pretty mad at me… He won't even text me. I guess I didn't text him either, though… I don't like not talking to him. Do you think he misses me?"

Kreacher just licked his face, looking rather happy to be in such close quarters with Blaine, who usually ignored and avoided him at all costs.

"You're right. I made him pretty mad. He probably doesn't miss me yet." Blaine sighed and nuzzled his face into Kreacher's fur. "I miss him, though. You miss him too, don't you? I don't even think you've done one bad or annoying thing since he's been gone. Apart from the slip up where you crawled all over me a minute ago… but I'm willing to let that go if you sleep with me, okay? I can't believe I'm talking to a dog again. I think Kurt's causing me to lose my mind, Kreacher."

Kreacher yipped once, snuggling up to Blaine once again.

"Are you sad? I'm sad too." Blaine moved so that they were both more comfortable, burying the side of his face into his pillow and trying to will his mind to shut off so he could sleep. "I'm sad too."

* * *

"Sorry I had to cancel the Skype date, guys. Assignment came up with school. You know how that goes." Mercedes said late the next day, waving at Quinn and Kurt. "And by that I mean Rachel came over and we all know how _that_ would have gone…"

"Is Rachel Berry seriously going around saying she wants Blaine and I to break up so she can have the cutest couple?" Kurt asked, scoffing. He still wasn't quite over that yet and was pretty sure he would be angry about it for a while. "Is she, Mercedes?"

"Why does anyone tell Finn anything?" Quinn wondered aloud.

"I didn't tell him, Miss Bossy Pants did." Mercedes said. "Besides, they _are_ dating. She practically tells him every calorie she eats per meal on a daily basis. It's extremely annoying."

"Do you live with her?" Quinn questioned. "I didn't think you two were roommates."

"We're not but she's here a lot. It's not always bad, though. Sometimes it's nice to have the company." Mercedes answered. "Oh, wait. I just got a text. Hold on."

"Is it _Daaaaaavid_?" Kurt asked in a sing-song voice, grinning a bit.

"Who is David?" Quinn raised her eyebrow as Mercedes disappeared.

"The guy I introduced her to at New Years. Remember? Tall, dark, and handsome?" Kurt said, making himself comfortable. "God, this room smells disgusting. I need to make friends in that I can stay with that are not Finn and Puck."

Mercedes sat back down, a huge smile on her face. "I'm back, guys. Did you miss me?"

"Nope." Kurt teased.

"Alright, White Boy. Have you talked to your boyfriend since the second argument?" Mercedes sighed after rolling her eyes. Clearly she was not one for small talk when it came to Kurt and Blaine arguments. Which left no opportunity for Kurt to test the waters on a Puck conversation.

"No." Kurt sighed, trying and succeeding in hiding his disappointment. There would be other times to play matchmaker.

"Not at all?" Quinn asked. "You didn't even tell him where you went?"

"Nope." Kurt sighed. He was pretty sure Finn had called Blaine an hour after Kurt arrived, though, so he didn't feel _too_ bad about this. "Wasn't this supposed to cheer me up? I don't want to talk about him right now."

"This isn't to cheer you up. This is to get you home. Baby, things can't possibly be bad enough that you'd live in a room with Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman. Does your dad know you're there?" Mercedes asked, while Quinn nodded in agreement.

"No. Dad thinks I'm at home with Blaine and we're doing fine and dandy. I can't even begin to explain how annoying he was after the first fight." Kurt sat up straight. "I don't even want to think about what he'd say if he knew I went home and we got into another fight."

"You kind of brought it on yourself going home in the first place." Quinn said quietly. "I know that isn't what you want to hear, though."

"No, I know. That's why I came to stay with Finn this time." Kurt sighed. "You're exactly right."

"No. You're staying with Finn because you want to run away again but you're afraid Carole will make you come home and Burt will interrogate you again." Mercedes corrected. "And Finn is too dumb to see why you're really staying with him."

"He's not too dumb." Kurt sighed again. He should have known Mercedes wasn't going to be very sympathetic towards him. After all, this date was probably keeping her from precious texting and flirting with David time. "He probably just wanted me to clean this place up. He definitely knows why I'm here."

"You _are_ going to go home though, right?" Quinn asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, eventually, I guess." Kurt shrugged. He knew he had to go home soon but he didn't want to. He was still upset and wasn't ready to put that aside quiet yet. "I mean, of course I will. I just… It's hard to _want_ to go back when I know it's just going to lead to another argument about why we said what we said and why I left and how he thinks I don't take care of myself and how he thinks I'm _cheating_ on him. Seriously, what gives him the right to say that?"

If he were any more upset, he probably would have let slip that he should have been more worried given Blaine's past, but luckily he'd done very well in not mentioning it. After all, he was frustrated. However frustrated he was, though, would _never_ warrant bringing up Blaine's past to other people. He wanted to reiterate, again, the fact that if anyone had to worry it should be _him_. If only so someone else could tell him that was idiotic. He hadn't even thought about it until that angry moment, but now he couldn't get it out of his mind. Why _was_ Blaine so paranoid? Could that have been why?

"But… Kurt… you _are_ taking care of yourself, right?" Quinn asked worriedly.

"He _better_ be taking care of himself or I'll come down myself and knock sense into him." Mercedes responded before Kurt could even answer.

"Of course I am." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You're eating three full meals a day, getting at least seven hours of sleep each night, and spending _some_ time away from school work?" Mercedes asked.

"Well…"

"A 'yes' better follow that 'well', boy." Mercedes said.

"It's not like I'm not eating and not sleeping. There's just a lot of school work." Kurt fought the urge to roll his eyes. He got it from Blaine, Carole, _and_ his father. He had a feeling even Taylor was trying to subtly drop hints. Just how many people were going to get on his case? "I can't help that my classes are long and that I'm on campus a lot. I only stay after an hour and a half after classes. Even if I went to a normal college I would spend that much time studying. I don't get what the big deal is!"

"Maybe you should take fewer classes?" Quinn suggested. "You'll be under less stress. I remember you telling me that you were taking more than the average student."

"It's too late to drop classes now." Kurt said irritably, not liking where this conversation was going. "I'm fine. It's a lot of work but it's manageable. At least it would be if Blaine didn't get so frustrated at me for always doing school work. He can't even talk. He had classes all five days last semester and was always picking up shifts."

"But you have to look at it from his point of view, baby." Mercedes sighed. "His boyfriend is never home. He just wants to spend some time with you. If _I_ had a boyfriend, I'd spend as much time with him as I possibly could."

"He was never home last semester! The only reason he's noticing so much more is because now he only has classes two days a week!" Kurt snapped. He didn't want to get annoyed with his friends, but he didn't see why everyone told him to look at it from Blaine's point of view. He highly doubted anyone was telling Blaine the same thing. "It wasn't a problem last semester! He just doesn't _understand_. He can take the max amount of classes and work, but if I try to take a ton of classes and stuff, it's unacceptable. I'm not in the wrong here, Mercedes. And I don't know why me staying after classes makes him think I'm cheating but I'm _not_. If I stop going to the studios after classes now it will look like I'm admitting I did something wrong and he'll think I _was_ cheating!"

"It's not admitting you've done something wrong. It's compromising on an issue for the guy you care about." Quinn said very calmly. "Besides, Kurt, you can not be wrong yet also not be right at the same time. You know it bothers Blaine and you won't step down. It's a relationship. It takes work. He came to you with a problem and you ran away from the fight."

"He didn't come to me. I had to force it out of him. And I know relationships take work but this is a stupid thing to have to work on." Kurt grumbled.

"It's not stupid to him." Mercedes sighed. "Look, baby. You love him, right?"

"Of course I do." Kurt said, almost impatiently. "I love him very much."

"Then tell him. Tell him that you don't appreciate him accusing you of cheating because it isn't true, but tell him you'll stop seeing Alec."

"I don't want to stop seeing him. He's my _friend_. And I've done _nothing wrong_."

"Stop being so damn stubborn." Mercedes snapped. "Both of you have turned one little thing into a huge week long massive argument explosion. Blaine is being an ass for jumping to conclusions and refusing to talk about it, but you're being an ass for not stepping up and trying to help the situation. You can sit here and whine all you want, Kurt, but it's not going to get you _anywhere_. The only thing that will get you anywhere is getting out of Finn's dorm, going to the home you share with your boyfriend, and telling him you want to come to an agreement."

"You sure do feel the need to offer all sorts of advice lately." Kurt scowled.

"Someone's got to." Mercedes said. "Eventually someone has to get through to you."

"Go home, Kurt." Quinn said softly. "Mercedes is right. The longer you're gone, the longer until this is over. We're not trying to upset you, but it's the truth."

"I don't want to fight again." Kurt looked down. "I don't like how he gets when he's like that. He's like a completely different person."

"You get pretty bad yourself when you're in a bad mood." Mercedes joked. "In all seriousness though, baby, you've got to go home. Besides, I think living with Finn and Puck has gotten to you. Just look at your hair."

"It's only been two nights." Kurt sighed, but cringed when he surveyed his face on the screen. "Fine, fine, fine… I guess you're right. I should go home."

"We miss you." Quinn gave him a sad smile. "You should be home more so we can have Skype dates and stay caught up on each other's lives."

"If he won't stay home for Blaine he won't stay home for us." Mercedes laughed. "Go pack up and go home, Kurt. I'm sure your boyfriend and your puppy miss you. And I know you miss them."

"That's debatable." Kurt muttered, shaking his head. "I do miss them. Especially Blaine even if he's acting like a jerk… I just don't even know what to say when I get home. The last fight I left because I was hurt… but by time I got home, I was just so ready to be back to him. This time I left because I'm pissed and I'm still kind of—no. I'm still pissed that he'd even accuse me of that. I'm going home pissed. It's going to end in another argument."

"That's fine, baby. Argue it out when you get home. You two _need_ to get these things out in the open and if it means arguing, then argue. But _stay at home_. Argue, make up, and then tell him you're willing to compromise. After you make up don't lock yourself away working on school work all night. Sleep in the same bed as him. Tell him you're willing to compromise and then _show_ him you're willing to compromise."

Kurt opened his mouth to speak, but Mercedes held up her hands.

"Go! Go, now! Get off of the computer, pack your back, and drive your fabulous self back to Cincinnati. I will call you in two hours and if you aren't there, Kurt, I will… I don't know what I'll do yet but it won't be pretty. Bye, Kurt."

"Bye, Kurt." Quinn gave him a sympathetic smile and waved. "It's for the best. We promise. Trust us."

" _Fine, fine_. I'm going, I'm going!" Kurt snapped his laptop shut and stared around Finn and Puck's disgusting dorm room for a few seconds. He may not have been excited at the prospect of going home, but he was very sure of one thing. He definitely was _not_ going to miss the smell of this place. At all.

_**Part Three**_

The last thing Blaine expected to see when he got home from school and the bank was Kurt's car. Initially he felt a surge of excitement because Kurt was actually home before sundown for once. It didn't take long for him to remember exactly why he shouldn't be excited, though. He and Kurt were in the middle of fighting and that _definitely_ was not something to be excited about. Truthfully, he had expected Kurt to be gone much longer than two and a half days after what Blaine had said. He felt as though the second fight had been much worse than the first one was, so he wasn't sure why exactly Kurt had come back.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered, shutting his car off and going into the house. Kurt was sitting on the couch with Kreacher curled at his side, eating pasta and staring down at his tablet. He didn't even look up when the door opened, nor when it closed. Blaine watched him for several seconds, trying to decide if it was wise to talk to him or not, before speaking. "Hey, Kurt."

Kurt looked up, blue eyes meeting Blaine's hazel ones. Blaine waited anxiously for any sort of response. The longer it took for Kurt to answer the more Blaine began to mentally prepare himself. Maybe he didn't _want_ a response, now that he thought about it. Maybe he should have just walked past Kurt and gone into the bedroom to live alone for the rest of his life. Finally Kurt spoke in a very calm voice. "There's some Tortellini on the stove still if you want some. It hasn't been sitting for very long."

"I'm not very hungry." Blaine mumbled, shocked. That was all he got? Something about _food_? No 'I'm sorry I left again'? No almost teasing 'Did you miss me?' All he got was 'There's some Tortellini on the stove'?

"You just got back later than usual from school. Of course you are." Kurt stood, no longer even looking at him. "I'll make you a plate. I want more anyway."

"I don't want anything to eat." Blaine said, following Kurt into the kitchen. Why was Kurt so determined to not talk about this? Why was Kurt so insistent on pretending nothing was wrong? "I'm not hungry."

Kurt got a second plate and filled both of them without a word, still not even looking at Blaine when he passed the plate to him.

"I don't want anything to eat!" Blaine suddenly exclaimed, surprising himself. "I'm not hungry!"

Kurt finally looked up at him, looking in his eyes. "You've been at school all day. There's no way you aren't hungry. There's practically nothing in the fridge. Have you even been eating?"

Blaine slammed the plate onto the counter and walked out. Maybe he felt bad about that because if it had slid any farther it would have slid into Kurt, but he couldn't find it in himself to even apologize. Like Kurt could act like he was so concerned now. Where was his concern a few weeks ago when this all started? Where was his concern one week ago when he was living home alone and feeling guilty for upsetting Kurt? Where was it _yesterday_?

" _Fine_." Kurt called after him, sounding frustrated. "Why are you being such an ass? I knew I shouldn't have come home."

"I didn't ask you to!" Blaine called right back, stopping in his tracks and turning to face the kitchen. "I never asked you to come back!"

"Well sorry I wanted to work things out! Clearly you don't care about making up!"

Blaine walked back into the kitchen. " _I_ don't care? _I_ don't care? Who keeps leaving? Who keeps spending more time with that _home wrecker_ than their own boyfriend?"

Kurt threw his hands into the air, letting out a groan of frustration. "Oh my God! Shut up with it already, Blaine! _Just shut up_!"

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Blaine shouted. Kurt thought he was frustrated? _Blaine_ was frustrated. His opinion clearly didn't matter on anything anymore. It didn't matter that he thought Kurt was cheating, it didn't matter that he had only gotten angry with Kurt in reaction to Kurt's bitching, it didn't matter that he didn't want to eat, and now he couldn't even _talk_? Kurt was not frustrated. Blaine was frustrated.

"Then stop talking and I'll stop saying it!"

"You're impossible and this is impossible!"

"I'm impossible?" Kurt scoffed, jaw dropping. "This is impossible? What is this? Is this us? Are _we_ impossible? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Blaine took several deep breaths, looking away. The yelling needed to stop so the fighting would stop. "No. No, Kurt. I didn't mean that. I'm just angry!"

"You're not the only one!" Kurt snapped. "I just tried to give you food and you jumped down my throat!"

"No, no, no. Stop. We need to… We need to stop fighting. We have to stop doing this." Blaine said, more to himself than to Kurt.

"Then stop accusing me of cheating!"

Blaine looked back at him again, gesturing with his hands. "I'm jealous! I'm jealous, alright? All you do is spend time with him! Why can't you spend time with _me_?"

"I'm not spending time with him! I'm doing school work in a studio!"

"You're lying! You're lying! You have _got_ to be lying!"

"I'M NOT LYING, BLAINE!"

"Then stop staying after school! Stop seeing him!" Blaine hated that he sounded so desperate, but he couldn't help but feel like he was losing Kurt to some random guy that Kurt met at school.

" _NO!_ I am _not_ going to stop seeing someone because you don't like them! Because you're jealous! No!" Kurt shouted.

"See? If you weren't having an affair, you would stop seeing him!"

" _Excuse me?"_

"You heard me! If you weren't having an affair, you would stop seeing him!" Blaine repeated.

"Do you want me to take a fucking lie detector test or something, Blaine? I. Have. Not. Had. Sex. With. Anyone. But. You!" Kurt pointed. " _You_! I am not cheating on you! I have never done anything with Alec outside of school that didn't directly link to our project! I have never done anything inside of school with Alec that didn't directly link to our project—and that includes sex! And while we're on the matter: _Kurt Hummel does not fuck_!"

"Not unless it's with the _Home Wrecker_!"

"Oh my God!" Kurt threw his hands into the air and stormed out of the room. "It's like talking to a brick wall! A brick wall!"

Blaine followed him into the living room, not caring that this was probably only prolonging the fight. If he'd been smart perhaps he would have given Kurt a few moments and then _calmly_ went after him to end the argument. Blaine wasn't very smart in that moment. "Stop seeing him!"

"No." Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. He was no longer shouting, but he spoke very calmly and clearly. "You're acting like a jealous little boy, Blaine."

"I want you to stop seeing him!"

Kurt moved forward until he was directly in front of Blaine, still speaking calmly. "I'm not going to stop seeing him, Blaine. I am not cheating on you. I have never cheated on you. I will never cheat on you. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Why did you throw out that statement then? About how I'm more likely to cheat because of my past?" Blaine challenged.

"Because I was pissed! Because you pissed me off!"

"Well you bringing up my past pisses me off! I was fifteen years old! Just because I had a lot of sex when I was younger doesn't mean I'm a whore!" Blaine shouted, feeling his chest tighten. "I'm not a whore!"

"I never said you were a whore, Blaine!"

"You asked me if I'd fucked anyone that walked up to me in the street!"

"I was making a point! The likelihood of you fucking someone who walked up to you in the street is the likelihood of me fucking Alec!" Kurt stared at him as if he had grown five heads. "Why are you making such a big deal out of _everything_?"

"You just can't _not_ bring it up! No matter what we argue about, you always have to bring my past into it!" Blaine exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to have it thrown in my face, Kurt? I wish I hadn't done it, okay? The first few times I was drunk and after that —no! I don't have to justify my actions almost five years ago to you! No! I want you to stop bringing up my past! I don't care if you're making a point or not! Maybe I can start bringing up the fact that you tried to set your dad and Carole up to get close to _Finn_! Or the fact that when you were sick your treated me and your dad like absolute shit!"

"I was on medicine!"

"What's your excuse now?"

"Stop it!" Kurt's voice came out strangled almost and Blaine felt a little guilty when tears welled up in Kurt's eyes.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" he whispered.

Kurt blinked rapidly, looking away from Blaine and refusing to answer him.

"I know it does. _That's_ exactly how I feel every time you bring up my past. You couldn't control your emotions when you were on the medicine? Well I couldn't help it when I was fifteen! I w-was alone and I made some mistakes but do _not_ throw it in my face!"

Kurt sniffled a bit and opened his mouth as if to speak but quickly closed it again.

"And while we're on the subject of your dad, did you know he came over here? Yeah! And accused me of _hitting_ you! And telling me that he was going to make you leave me if he saw fit! He came here to _our_ house and _fought_ with me, Kurt!"

"Wait, what?" Kurt asked, looking up. He stared at Blaine blankly. Clearly nobody had told Kurt that Burt had dropped by. It was very evident that he had no idea.

"Your dad came up here and started a fight with me!"

"Wait, wait. He said that he was going to make me break up with you?" Kurt repeated very slowly, staring at him in shock.

"Your dad seems to think I beat you." Blaine tried to not look upset as he said this, and Kurt couldn't help but notice the sassiness in his voice as he spoke. It never failed to amuse him when Blaine was unintentionally say something sassy. Unfortunately he couldn't go up and ruffle Blaine's hair like he normally would because they were fighting. Blaine definitely wouldn't have appreciated being called cute in the middle of an argument.

Kurt pushed that thought aside and continued the argument, now extremely confused when he repeated Blaine's words in his mind. "But… When did this happen? I wasn't staying with Dad. I was staying with Finn. I didn't even tell Dad that I was back in Lima, Blaine."

"The first fight! He came when you were staying with them! I have never felt —so—."

Kurt's eyes widened and he scowled, becoming agitated. "I cannot believe that Dad came up here."

"Well I can! He's always involved! You never have to deal with anything on your own! Your Daddy is always there to save the day! Eventually you're going to have to stop running home to Daddy! How are we supposed to deal with our problems if you get other people involved?"

"Like you didn't tell Wes and David! Like Carole didn't come up here and see you!" Kurt exclaimed.

"I didn't tell Wes and David what _you_ said! About how you wish you'd gone to New York! But you have _noooo_ problem telling your parents that I called you an idiot! You went around playing the victim, Kurt! You started the whole fight! And then when it got too much for you to handle, you _ran away_. Twice!"

"You act like I'm in the wrong so much, but you could have just came to me and talked to me! None of this would have ever happened! And _I_ play the victim? What was with you telling me that you lost everything because of me?" Kurt scoffed.

"They _cut me off_ , Kurt! Because of you! I lost my family, my financial support, my home, probably more than half of my personal belongings!"

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO STAY! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO COME BACK! YOU COULD HAVE GONE BACK TO SCHOOL!" Kurt shouted, feeling as thought he'd been slapped in the face. "I hate to break it to you, Blaine, but it would have happened anyway! It would have happened sooner or later! I may have sped up the process, but we _both_ know that they would have done it eventually anyway! So don't you try to act like I play the victim! At least I don't blame my family issues on you!"

"There is _nothing_ in the world that you could possibly blame on me! When you act like this, I wish I _had_ gone back to UK! You wish you'd gone to NYU? Well sometimes I wish I had just gone back to UK! Do you know how simple my life would be? Do you know how much stress would be cut out of my life if I didn't have to constantly take care of you? Right now I can honestly say that I wish you had never asked me to leave UK."

"Well I'm sorry I asked you too, Blaine! I've apologized before! I don't know what else you want from me apart from an apology!"

"I want you to realize—to _really_ realize—what I gave up for _this_. For this. Standing here arguing and screaming at each other. Who looks stupid now? Me or my parents?"

Kurt stared at Blaine again and swallowed hard.

"I need some time to myself right now, Kurt. Please. I don't want to talk to you right now. Just let… Just let me have a while to myself and we'll talk later but I'm really upset and nothing good is going to come from this." Blaine said shakily.

Kurt blinked several times, trying to decide what he was supposed to say, before nodding. "Okay… I'll just… go to the bedroom then."

"Fine." Blaine turned and sat on the couch. He grabbed Vogue off of the coffee table before curling up and opening the magazine, pointedly not looking in the direction of his boyfriend. He didn't look up until Kurt walked away. He sighed softly as he watched Kurt leave the room, wondering when things would ever go back to normal. If he even remembered what normal was anymore.

* * *

"Jeff, put my dad on the phone." Kurt said before Jeff even had time to finish the routine way of answering the phone at his father's garage. He had gone directly to the bedroom and was dialing the number before he'd even made it completely inside. He should have waited until he had calmed down to call his father but he was already so wound up that he couldn't wait.

"Woah there, Sparky, calm down." Jeff laughed. "Your papa is right here."

"Is that Kurt?" Kurt heard his father ask and then the phone rustling. "Hey, kiddo. What's up? Everything alright?"

"You came to my house and accused Blaine of hitting me? And said you were going to make me break up with him? _Have you lost your mind_?" Kurt exclaimed. He was too angry to even say hello.

"Kurt, you are _way_ out of line. You can't just call me at the garage and talk to me like that. I'm your father and customers are around." His father said gruffly. "I don't appreciate you calling me and talking to me like this."

"Well I don't appreciate you insinuating that Blaine hits me, and saying you have a choice in who I decide to date. It is my choice who I date, Dad! Not yours! I am not sixteen anymore!"

"What was I supposed to think when you ran in crying, refused to talk about it, and cried for four days?" Burt spoke in a hushed voice and Kurt knew he was probably trying to not be overheard although it was getting late enough that customers shouldn't have even been there anymore.

"You were supposed to think that I had a bad fight with my boyfriend, Dad! Blaine would _never_ hit me! Blaine would never hurt a fly!"

"What happened to make you that upset then?" Burt demanded.

"It shouldn't matter to you! It's _my_ relationship! It's between Blaine and me! But since you're _sooo_ concerned, fine! Do you want to know the full story? I tried to force him into talking! And he calmly tried to tell me to stop but I kept pushing and pushing! I called him a coward, he called me an idiot!"

"You told me this, but there's _more_ and I think you're hiding it because he—."

"He told me that he wished I'd gone to NYU! And I said I wish I had too! Okay? Blaine didn't touch me! Blaine would never lay a hand on me like that! That's what I didn't want to tell you, Dad! That! He didn't hit me! We just argued! We said some really horrible things that we probably didn't even really mean! And I was upset that it got so serious and my feelings were hurt by the NYU comment! But I was just as bad as him! In fact, I was probably worse! No. I _was_ worse!" Kurt exclaimed. He would have been shouting if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want Blaine to overhear.

"It doesn't give him the right to talk to you that way! I don't care how angry you make him! That is disrespectful!" Burt argued. "I'm supposed to protect you and make sure you're taken care of!"

"You can't protect me anymore! I'm nineteen, Dad! I don't live with you anymore! You have no right to get involved in my arguments with my boyfriend! No wonder Blaine wouldn't go to dinner on Friday! And you just sat there like you had no idea why!"

"I'm your father. I have every right to get involved." His father's voice rose.

"No! No, you don't! You had no right to get involved in our argument and you had no right to come over here and try to intimidate Blaine! You weren't protecting me when you did that! You just crossed the line! I don't need you to fight my battles for me! It was my fight! Mine and Blaine's! I shouldn't have come home to you in the first place! If you wanted to help, you should have told me to go back home! I'm nineteen! I can't just run home to you anymore! You should have made me leave!"

"I'm not going to force you to go home to someone who is treating you like crap!" Burt said, now almost shouting.

"Blaine doesn't treat me like crap! We just had a fight! We had a fight and I need for you to tell me that you'll never get involved again!" Kurt said, his own voice rising a bit. "Tell me!"

"I'm not going to tell you that. If I feel like I need to be involved, I'm going to be involved!"

"No! No! I'm nineteen! Promise me that you are going to stay out of my relationship— _my relationship_ —issues!" Kurt took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "So say it. Tell me that you'll stay out of mine and Blaine's business."

His father was silent for several long seconds before he spoke. "Fine. I still think I had every right to go down there and voice my opinion, but fine. I will no longer get involved."

"You had _no right_ to say those things to Blaine. They were completely unfair to him. I don't care that we're fighting, you don't talk to my boyfriend that way."

"You should have heard some of the things he was saying to me!" Burt exclaimed.

"You probably deserved whatever it was he said to you, Dad! You came into our house and accused him of hitting me and said you'd make me leave him! I think anyone in their right mind would be pretty pissed off!" Kurt shot back.

"So you think that it's okay for him to talk to people like that?"

"I don't know what he said, but yes! I'm sure each and every single word he said was completely justified! Because I know Blaine and he doesn't talk back unless it's deserved! What did you expect to happen when you drove to our house? Did you expect him to just pack up my things for you to take home? Or did you expect him to just stand there and take all that? Just because you're my dad?"

His father sighed. "Kid, it's not about what he said to me. If he gets that kind of attitude with me, I can only imagine how he treats you!"

"I can handle this myself! I do not need you getting involved in our fights, alright? There is no way for you to possibly be in the right here. You are so wrong that the right side isn't even _visible_. Not only that, but you've made this ten times worse than it needs to be and now I have to figure out how to fix it!"

"You two are still fighting?" Burt asked. "You said everything was better."

"Because it's none of your business if we're fighting, Dad! I just want to make sure we're both on the same page here. You do not get involved in mine and Blaine's problems. And, just so we're clear, it is _my_ choice who I date and who I do not date. Do _not_ tell Blaine you can make me break up with him because that will _never happen_. And if we ever did break up—which we never will—it wouldn't be your decision. It would be mine. Alright?"

Burt didn't answer.

"Alright?" Kurt repeated, a little louder.

"Alright, Kurt. Fine. You're right." Burt said gruffly. "Are you going to be at dinner Friday?"

"I haven't decided yet. But when I do it'll be my decision." Kurt huffed.

Burt sighed heavily. "Fine, kid."

"I have to go. Bye, Dad." Kurt said and barely even waited for an answer before hanging up the phone.

He sighed and sat on his bed, rubbing his face. Now that he had gotten the initial anger out of his system, he began to feel incredibly upset. Here he had come home to try to make things right and it had led to another argument.

Some things, Kurt thought, Blaine was right about. It wasn't fair that Kurt brought Blaine's past into it. Kurt also knew it wasn't fair for Blaine to ask him to stop being friends with Alec. And he absolutely refused to back down on that issue. Blaine was just going to have to get over his jealousy.

At the same time, though, was it worth the drama? Maybe Mercedes was right and he should just stop—

No.

There was no sense in him not being friends with Alec because Blaine was jealous. No sense whatsoever. Kurt could have friends. How did Blaine expect him to go to school for fashion design and not befriend one or two gay students? Just because they were friends didn't mean they were going to fall in love with each other. Blaine had no idea what Alec was like. He had no idea that Alec was clearly head over heels with his med-school boyfriend. There was no way Kurt would ever cheap. No. Way.

He picked up his phone and dialed his aunt's number, not even bothering to see what time it was. He pulled his knees to his chest, rested his chin on them, and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey, Kurtsie." His aunt said four rings later, yawning. "What's up?"

"Were you sleeping?" Kurt asked.

"Mmmmmhmm." His aunt said sleepily. "What's up, honey?"

"It's nothing. I'm sorry. You can go back to sleep."

"No, sweetie. It was too early for me to go to bed anyway. Everything okay?"

Kurt hesitated, biting his lip. "Blaine and I had a fight… Well… Kind of a really big one."

"Aw, babe. What happened?"

"A lot." Kurt sighed. "And Dad got involved."

"Well shit. What happened for it to be that big?" Taylor asked, sounding much more awake.

"You remember how Blaine was not talking to me and huffing and everything, right? Well it just kept getting worse and I tried to force him to talk and we both just… we both said some really horrible things to each other and I went home. Dad was under the impression that it… got physical for some reason, and he came and confronted Blaine. Blaine said my dad was horrible, my dad said Blaine went off on him… but I didn't know that until just now."

"Holy shit. I can't believe Burt and Blaine got into it. Burt likes Blaine so much. How long ago did this happen?"

"A week maybe. But that's not all."

"There's more?" Taylor gasped.

"Unfortunately. We had this talk after the first fight—before I knew about Dad and Blaine fighting— and I said I'd try to stay home more and do school work here."

"Well that's a good compromise."

"Only I didn't. I just _couldn't_. They're so distracting and I get nothing done when I'm home."

"But you told him you would." Taylor said very calmly. "You went back on your word."

"I know. And we got into a fight about it an-and he accused me of cheating. And I tried to tell him I wasn't and he d-didn't believe me." Kurt said, feeling his chest tighten up. He didn't want to get upset again. "And he was _so_ angry, and he's still so angry. He hates me right now. A-And both times NYU came into it and h-he said that he wished I was there and that I'd be better off because I don't take care of myself. A-And he kept saying I was cheating, Taylor, and I got mad so I left again. I didn't go home. I went to stay with Finn."

"Carole's son, right? The one at OSU?" Taylor asked, sighing.

"Yeah and I'm just so—like—I tried to make it better, Taylor. And now w-we're fighting about _everything_. He says that I don't appreciate him and that I throw things in his face and that I'm cheating. And he said it's my fault his family doesn't want to be around him!"

Taylor interrupted him before he could continue on. "Annie told Paige and I about all of that on the first Thanksgiving he was there… Burt told her as soon as it happened, I think. Have they not come around at all? I was hoping they would kind of be like Annie and Andrew and come to terms with it."

"No. It's not going to ever get to that, Taylor. But still, he shouldn't accuse me of ruining his relationship with his family. It's not my fault." Kurt said miserably.

"Now that—no. I'll wait to the end. Finish." Taylor sighed again.

"I know I shouldn't have kept leaving and I know he should be mad that Dad came up here and started a fight, but he shouldn't be mad that I stay after school to do work and he shouldn't accuse me of not taking care of myself and cheating! He should trust me! I shouldn't have to go around telling him I'm not cheating! Why is he living with me if he can't trust me?"

"Kurt… I can tell you what you want to hear or what you need to hear. Which one would you prefer?"

"What do you mean, what I need to hear?" Kurt questioned.

"Baby… okay. You have to clear your mind and listen to me because I'm trying to help you. Don't get upset, don't cry, and don't be angry with me. Okay?"

Kurt let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Okay."

"Remember me telling you to talk to him about this whole other boy thing? And you telling me you shouldn't have to? You may see it as him not trusting you. But you _knew_ he was bothered and you didn't even try to stop it. You were stuck in your mindset of 'I haven't done anything wrong and he's just being a jerk.' Even if you haven't done anything wrong, though, how do you think that looks to him? It looks like you don't care enough to ease his fears. He's been upset and trying to reach out to you."

"He wouldn't even bring it up!"

"Sweetie, every time he was short with you he was bringing it up. He just wanted you to reassure him that he's the one you wanted. You wrote him off. You should have… given him a hug and straight up told him nothing was going on. You should have invited him to come with you on a Saturday when you worked so he could see nothing was going on. You should have slacked off a bit when you saw he was bothered."

"But why should I? I wasn't doing anything wrong and he should have known."

"People have insecurities, Kurt. Even people like Blaine who seem perfect to you. You should have said something to make him feel _better_. You should have comforted him. It's been weeks since we talked about this and he was upset before that. Can you imagine living like that? And all you had to do was just talk to him."

"Why couldn't he come to me?"

"He could have, yes. But it could have worked both ways, Kurt. You could have just as easily. In fact, it probably would have been easier for you to walk up and say it. He probably felt guilty for even thinking it. But then you didn't go up and say something about it. So he's trying in a less-than-perfect way to reach out to you and you don't even say anything. You just let him go on thinking it. So how does that look to him? Either you are cheating and don't that care he's upset or you're not cheating but you still don't care that he's upset. What if it were you?"

Kurt pursed his lips together, not speaking.

"The way I see it is that you shouldn't have tried to _force_ him into talking about it. You were pissed off that he was insinuating that you were cheating. Understandable. You could have done anything else I just said to fixed this before it got to that point. Instead, you tried to force him to talk about something he was clearly uncomfortable talking about. You didn't go about it in the right way at _all_."

"I tried. I was just so angry." Kurt said desperately.

"It doesn't matter. How you approach someone in situations like this is _everything_. The way you approached him wasn't open. You said you tried to _force_ him to talk. Honey, there is nothing open about forcing someone to do anything. You went in there for an argument."

"I didn't want an argument!" Kurt protested. "I wanted to make it better."

"No. You didn't go in with the intentions of making him feel better if you told me you forced him to talk. So you _forced_ him. And because of that, he gave you an equal reply. Why should he open up to you in a heart felt way after that? Of course bad things were said, Kurt. It doesn't matter who you talk to. If you go in like that, they're going to be rude right back."

Kurt groaned. He had wanted Taylor to make him feel better, but she was just making him feel worse.

"You never should have gone to Lima after the fight. You should have gone for a walk. You should have taken Kreacher for a walk around the neighborhood. Driven around. Gone shopping. Anything. But you should have gone back to Blaine that night. You ran away from a problem. You ran away from Blaine. If you can run away from a fight, what happens when something real happens? What happens when you two live together and Blaine loses his job and things get tough? What happens when something serious—something grown up—happens? Are you going to cry and run to Daddy? Are you going to get Daddy involved? Now, honey, I _love_ your father. But you know as well as I do that he has a very short circuit when it comes to anything to do with _you_. First, you shouldn't have gone in the first place. Second, you should never have told him what happened with Blaine. And third, you need to _stop_ calling it home. Honey, it is not _home_ anymore. It is your old home. Your _home_ is in Cincinnati with Blaine. And until you get _that_ through your head, you will never stop going back to Daddy."

Kurt stared down at the bedspread. He had never even realized he was still calling it _home_. Now that he thought about it, though, it was very obvious. He even called it "home" when he referred to he and Blaine going to Friday Night Dinners. Everything Taylor said made complete sense. "I… you're right. I knew I shouldn't have gone home. I guess I just… wanted someone to tell me that I… No, I mean I knew I shouldn't have gone to Lima. I should have stayed home. I wanted someone to tell me to go home."

"What was this about Blaine saying you throw stuff in his face? What do you throw in his face?" Taylor asked.

"I… I can't really… talk about that." Kurt bit his lip.

"Well whatever it was, you need to stop. You say he should be able to trust you, but throwing anything in someone's face is not exactly trusting. Considering he didn't feel as though he could come to you about this partner stuff, he clearly has trouble opening up. Doesn't he?"

"He does…" Kurt admitted quietly, feeling worse by the minute.

"Well whatever you're throwing in his face… it probably took a lot for him to tell you. Especially if it's something you can't talk about with other people. And I'm sure he _trusted_ you when he told you that. But you're throwing it in his face apparently. Why should he trust that he can come to you with something else? Why should he come to you with something else that you can use against him?"

"I'm not using it against him! I just—."

"Kurt, calm down." Taylor sighed. "Look, I'm here to tell you how it is because otherwise you'll never grow up. If you want him to be able to trust you, you have to show him he can trust you. Every single day, even when you're fighting. He can't be sitting there afraid to give you something to use against him or afraid to argue because you'll throw something in his face. Because that shuts off communication. Communication is _vital_ to any relationship and especially a romantic relationship. You have got to keep yourself open and he's got to be open too. It's not going to happen if you two fight dirty like that."

"I don't mean to fight dirty, Taylor! That's not what I wanted to do."

"I don't know anything about it, honey. I wasn't there. Only you and Blaine know. But I know that throwing stuff in people's faces isn't good and you know that too. There's no way he'll be able to trust opening up to you if you do that. And lastly, I'm very glad that you two made a compromise after the first fight. _But you went back on it_. You said you were going to be home more and you weren't home more. You _lied_. If you need to work at home more you need to talk to Blaine. You need to say 'Blaine, I need an hour and a half in the kitchen uninterrupted by myself.' Or 'Look, I'm sorry. I really want to talk but this has got to get done. Let me finish and I promise we'll talk about it soon.' You don't say you'll be home more and not come home. It's kind of disrespectful, honey. I know you don't want to hear it. I'm sorry you _have_ to hear it. But you're growing up. You're nineteen. You're an adult and you're living on your own with an _amazing_ guy. You and Blaine have to find a way to make things work. You have to find a way to make your schedules work. You have to set aside time for him so he doesn't feel neglected. Just like you have to set aside time for school work. Make a schedule, Kurt! Make one and stick to it. I know it may seem like something an old person would do or it may seem lame, but if that's what helps you fix this then you need to do it."

Kurt buried his face in his hand, trying not to cry. "I don't want to b-be a horrible person."

"Relationships take so much work." Taylor said softly. "And you're at the age where it's normal to focus on yourself. You've had a lot happen in two years, Kurt. You're going through a lot of changes and on top of that you're in a committed relationship. That's something that most of the people your age don't have. So you have to work that much harder. You have to work harder to take care of yourself, to find yourself. But Blaine is going through the same thing. Blaine is supposed to be at the time in his life where he's finding himself and taking care of himself—but I think he's been taking care of you for a long time. You met him when you were being bullied and he was your support. You were attacked and he dropped everything to come to you. He was your support. He was there through the trial, through school. He's been supporting you and I just—I really hope that you're supporting him too, Kurt. I really hope that you're there for him because he _did_ lose his family. You're right that it would have happened anyway. But it didn't happen anyway. It—It happened because of his dedication to you. I guess I just… really hope you're as dedicated to him, and that you show him that dedication. It's easy to… fall back on somebody. Especially when they are so willing to be there for you whole heartedly. But you have to make sure that it's reciprocated. Otherwise… otherwise Blaine is going to feel used. He may not today or tomorrow… but he will eventually. And it will be really hard to fix that, honey. And Blaine is too good to let go."

"I… I have to go." Kurt said quietly. "Bye, Taylor."

"I love you, baby."

"I love you too." Kurt hung up his phone, took a deep breath, and curled into a ball feeling like the worst person on the planet. Reality sucked.

**_Part Four_**

It wasn't until two in the morning when Kurt finally emerged from their bedroom, still dressed and unshowered. He had sat in his room in complete silence for several hours, replaying his aunts words over and over in his head and trying to figure out how in the world he was going to make things right. He wasn't entirely sure how things had ended up this way. Of course he knew that the current fight was the whole Alec situation and he realized that he could have handled it a bit differently. The other stuff that had come up, though… He didn't know Blaine was feeling unappreciated, he hadn't realized he was so selfish, and he hadn't realized how bad their communication had gotten. He knew there was more but those were the biggest ones.

Maybe he didn't show that much appreciation for Blaine, which was ridiculous considering how much Blaine had done for him. He had been there whole-heartedly for Kurt since the first day they met on the Dalton staircase. In the beginning Kurt had shown his appreciation, but somewhere along the way… he guess he had just stopped. Which was not fair at all to Blaine. He was extremely lucky to have Blaine. He was extremely lucky that Blaine had stuck by his side through _everything_. Most boys wouldn't have put their lives on hold at eighteen and nineteen years old to care for him. Most boys wouldn't have left school and their home for him. No. Honestly, probably no one else would have. Blaine was one of a kind. No one would ever be like Blaine and maybe Kurt wasn't good enough for him.

He had been so wrapped up in the stress of school that he really _had_ been neglecting Blaine. Taylor was right. Kurt wouldn't have wanted to be alone in this apartment all the time and it wasn't fair for him to make Blaine do that. Kurt had been selfish by not even taking his thoughts and feelings into consideration. Instead, he had just become annoyed that Blaine was upset for no good reason—when clearly Blaine had had a good reason. Blaine wanted attention. He wanted someone else there.

Perhaps the biggest one was their communication. They had done better after their first fight, but it was steadily becoming worse and worse. What if Taylor was right and Blaine hadn't come to him because he'd thrown his past in his face? What would happen when something terrible happened to Blaine or he made some awful mistake? Would Blaine not come to him because he didn't want Kurt to react that way? He didn't want that. He didn't want that at all. What he wanted was for things to be better. He had to make them better and it didn't matter that it was now the middle of the night. He had to make it better _now_.

He made his way into the living room and saw Blaine sprawled out on the floor on his stomach, a blanket half over him, head rested on his arm, and Kreacher laying on top of Blaine's back. Both Kreacher and Blaine were fast asleep and Blaine was letting out very quiet snores.

Kurt watched him for a few seconds before kneeling down and scooping Kreacher off of him. "I'm gonna get Daddy into bed, silly puppy. I don't think he'd be too happy to know you were laying on him."

Kreacher blinked at him several times and went off into the kitchen the second Kurt sat him on the floor.

Kurt sat down on the floor next to Blaine, running his hand up and down his back. Blaine shifted slightly and burrowed his face in the crook of his arm, whining.

"Blaine, wake up." Kurt whispered after leaning down. He kissed the top of his head quickly. "Come on. Don't sleep on the floor. It's bad for your back."

"'m not on my back." Blaine mumbled sleepily as he rolled onto his back.'Night."

"Sweetheart, come on." Kurt whispered again, brushing his curls back and watching him. He really had the most adorable boyfriend ever. "Wake up."

"Mmmmmhm." Blaine abruptly sat up, rubbing his face. He squinted slightly, looking at Kurt. "Kurt?"

Kurt stood and held out his hand. "Let's get you to bed. It's much warmer in the bedroom with the space heater. I hate how cold this apartment is."

Blaine grasped his hand and stood, blinking at him. "Aren't you mad at me?"

"No, Blaine." Kurt leaned forward, kissing his cheek. He wrapped his arm around Blaine's waist as soon as he stepped forward, tugging him close. "Aren't you freezing?"

"I wasn't until you mentioned it." Blaine shivered. "My back feels very warm."

"That's because our dog was using it as a pillow." Kurt laughed, although he didn't feel very much like laughing. He was very relieved they weren't arguing because he wanted to really _talk_ to Blaine. But feeling relieved didn't mean he was necessarily cheerful.

"Mmmh, I really need to learn to not fall asleep around him. He makes me smell like dog."

"You don't smell like dog." Kurt reassured him as they walked towards the bedroom. He held the door open and watched as Blaine climbed onto the bed, making himself comfortable on Kurt's side of the bed. "Side swap?"

"Side swap." Blaine mumbled, burying his face in Kurt's pillow.

Kurt shrugged out of his clothes and pulled on some pajamas before turning the light off and climbing into bed. He rested his head on Blaine's pillow and took in his scent. He had really missed Blaine.

"I don't want to fight anymore." Blaine whimpered, clearly still half asleep. "I can't take it, Kurt. I don't want to be sad anymore."

Kurt moved forward suddenly, leaning over him. Blaine turned his head to blink at him. "I love you, Blaine." He said, voice shaky. "And I'm sorry for everything. I love you so much. Okay? I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine sat up, reaching to turn the bedside lamp on.

"I know you do." Kurt sat up as well. "You have to know, Blaine, that… that I am not cheating on you." He held up a hand when Blaine opened his mouth. "I'm not going to get mad. Just let me finish, alright?" He waited for Blaine's nod and continued. "I'm a difficult person. I'm… I'm selfish."

"You aren't selfish." Blaine said softly.

"Yes, Blaine. I am." Kurt said very seriously. "I haven't been treating you very well… and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I told you I would be home more and then didn't do that. I'm sorry that I got so upset when you wouldn't come out and talk to me. I'm sorry I reacted like a baby and ran ho—ran to my Dad's house. And I'm sorry it happened again and I went to Finn's."

Blaine watched him very carefully as he spoke and then nodded. "It's okay."

"It's not okay." Kurt shook his head. "This whole semester I've… I've not been around very much. It wasn't fair to you even if I was legitimately doing school work. I want you to know that I realize that now and that I—we're going to… make something that works for both of us. We'll decide together how long I should be there and I will stick to it. No matter what."

"Kurt, you don't have to do that."

"Yes. I do." Kurt said firmly. "I'm going to. I want us to talk. We… These fights were bad, Blaine… Some of the things we said to each other… We need to talk about it. We need to talk about what we said, why we said it, and what we're going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"I think that's a good idea."

Kurt leaned forward, patting a particularly messy curl down. "I think you need a hair cut."

"I think so too." Blaine gave him a small smile and he realized he hadn't actually seen one of those in a while.

"What should we talk about first?" Kurt asked softly.

"Uh… Well… Alright, I'll go first. I don't know if this is what you want to talk about but…" Blaine took a deep breath. "I feel left behind. You hated this guy so much. All I ever heard was all this bad stuff. Then you had to work with him and he became like your best friend. It was such a drastic change. You were happier and that's good. I want you to be happy, Kurt. But it was like _he_ was making you happier. This guy who you hated for an entire six months was making you happier than me. That's what it _seemed_ like that least. It seemed as though you would rather spend time with him… I used to make you happier. Remember? When we first met, you would call me upset and I'd drive up and we'd get coffee and talk about Broadway and musicals and clothes and Vogue… and when I first went away to college and you'd be sad, you would call and all I'd have to do is just… talk and it was like everything was better. It doesn't feel like that anymore and I was jealous because… he could. It seemed that way at least. Because you'd come home and talk about all of the funny stuff he said and the amazing sketches… I felt… I _feel_ like I'm being replaced."

"No." Kurt said firmly, scooting close and looking him in the eyes. "Never. And nothing has changed between us. You still make everything better."

"It's not the same." Blaine closed his eyes. "It's not the same as when I'd get to your house on a Saturday in the morning and you'd run down and when we went into the house you would just look at me like I was… everything."

Kurt scrambled onto his lap, arms going around him. "You _are_ everything to me. I'm sorry I don't tell you that and show you that. But you are everything to me still. You always will be. Alec has a boyfriend, Blaine."

Blaine opened his eyes and blinked at Kurt. "He does?"

"Yes. They've been dating since Alec was fourteen. Alec is not interested in me in the slightest. And I'm not interested in him. I could never be interested in anyone but you." Kurt kissed his cheek. "You're my first love and I don't want a second."

Blaine slid his arms around Kurt, pulling him closer. "You're my first love too."

"Jeremiah." Kurt cleared his throat.

"Finn." Blaine coughed.

"Doesn't count!" Kurt laughed a bit.

"Then neither does Jeremiah." Blaine nuzzled him.

"Fine, you win this one. Want a cookie?"

"Double chocolate, please."

"Wipe that grin off your face." Kurt laughed again and stroked the hair on the back of his head. "I know you're grinning. I can tell."

"Your right." Blaine mumbled into his shoulder.

"You're not being replaced." Kurt whispered. "Ever. I would go crazy without these curls and your eyes and your smile."

"I'm pretty cute, aren't I?"

"Pretty conceited!" Kurt gave him a tight squeeze. "Does that make you feel better though?"

"A bit, yeah." Blaine sat himself up again. "I just… It was such a drastic change with you never being here and then you were with him all the time."

" _With him_ as in he was in the same room. Nothing but school work was going on, Blaine. I promise."

"Okay." Blaine took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. Good. Well… okay… about NYU. I was very… I was upset when I said I wished you'd moved away. It really was something I said out of anger in the heat of the moment but everything I talked about during our last talk… well, it's true. I worry about you. I worry about you being out late. I worry that you don't eat as much as you say you do and that you don't get enough sleep… You've been coughing more in the middle of the night, you know? And I know that you want to think this entire thing is done." Blaine gestured at Kurt's chest. "But it still worries me. I… I saw you before the surgery and you couldn't breathe and I'm scared. I don't know. I just don't want you to overwork your lung because… Well you've only got two. Maybe it's irrational for me to be afraid but I just don't want you to… I don't want you to get hurt again. I want you healthy so you can continue to be healthy. I'm worried about you, Kurt. I'm… I'm really worried about you."

"I feel fine." Kurt assured him. "If I'm coughing, I'm not even coughing enough to wake me up. So you shouldn't worry."

"It's just… I associate you coughing with back then. And that was _awful_."

"I don't remember a lot of it." Kurt admitted. "It's all really hazy until… I barely even remember the fight with your dad."

"You were on a lot of medicines. That's why, I'm sure. It was bad, Kurt. It was really scary." Blaine whispered.

Kurt squeezed his hand. "I'll take better care of myself. I'll start getting more sleep."

Blaine nodded. "I think that's all I feel like I need to say… just that… I really don't wish you had gone to New York. I love being with you and living with you even if it can get chaotic at time."

"I said I wish I had… out of complete anger. The thought really hadn't crossed my mind. I've thought about it but not on a deep level or anything. It would have been neat to go to NYU but you wouldn't be there."

Blaine let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I was afraid you really did want to go."

"No." Kurt squeezed his hand again. "Is it my turn?"

"No. Not yet. I'm not finished." Blaine sighed again. Listen, I said a lot of things to you that I shouldn't have said. No. I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have said in that way. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, Kurt, and I'm sorry for how I said those things. I shouldn't have made that comment about my parents and I shouldn't have made the comment about how you acted when you were medicated. It was really childish and it was a low blow. I feel like those things needed to be said to you but I should have gone about it differently instead of throwing it at you in an argument. I am sorry for saying it like that but at the same time I feel better because it's out in the open and I probably never would have said it otherwise."

Kurt looked down, swallowing. "Blaine, I'm sorry for how I acted when I was on the medicine. I don't know what else I can say. I feel really bad about asking you to leave UK for me and I feel awful for treating you poorly."

"See, I don't think you do feel bad about me leaving UK. I don't think you realize just what I gave up yet. The thing with my family would have happened eventually but… but it wouldn't have been for a long time, Kurt. But I gave up more than that, okay? I dropped _everything_ to come to Lima. My two jobs, my schooling, and maybe even the chance to get into a good law school. I'm not saying this to make you feel bad but skipping semesters doesn't look great on an applications. And I _know_ it was my decision. I'm not saying it wasn't. I just want you to know and understand that I did that for us—for you. Because I love you and I think you're worth it."

"I know you gave up a lot. And I apologized for it a long time ago, Blaine. I shouldn't have to apologize for it for the rest of my life."

"That's not what I want." Blaine sighed. "I just want you to understand the full extent of what I did. Because I didn't _have_ to. I _wanted_ to. I'm very sorry for the way I threw it out there in the fight. I should have talked to you about what I was feeling like now. When things were calm and when we could both just talk and listen to each other. I feel awful about bringing up my family and how you were acting when you were sick during the fight. I am truly sorry for that. But you needed to hear it, so I don't take it back..."

Kurt nodded. "I understand. I can live with that, I think."

"I shouldn't have called you an idiot and I shouldn't have accused you of cheating. There's _no_ excuse for calling you an idiot. It was disrespectful. I think we both said quite a few disrespectful things to each other, and I need you to know how sorry I am for getting so carried away throughout this whole mess."

"I called you a coward, though." Kurt interrupted.

"See? We both did that, but it still doesn't make it right. I'll never say anything demeaning like that to you again, Kurt. I promise." Blaine said softly. He didn't say anything for several seconds and they just sat silently, Kurt running his fingers up and down Blaine's palm. "And the… cheating thing. I know I told you why I thought it… you spending time with him and being happier… but I'm sorry I thought it and I'm sorry I caused this big ordeal surrounding it. Despite everything, I should have trusted you. If I had just trusted you or talked to you, this would have been a much smaller disagreement. We wouldn't be in this position right now. And the way I said it… _fucking in a janitor's closet_ … I'm sorry. I don't think I can really justify saying those things to you. I just have to hope you understand that I know I was wrong and that I hope you can forgive me."

"I know." Kurt nodded and squeezed his hand. "I do forgive you. And I think I understand more…"

"Okay, good." Blaine let out a deep sigh and squeezed Kurt's hand back, falling silent.

"You should know that I called my dad and we had a… chat. He's not very happy with me for it, but I told him that he wasn't allowed to get involved. I just can't even believe he _said that_ to you. I'm sorry. I really am. I went there because I didn't know where else to go. But now I know that I shouldn't have left at all. I should have stayed and tried to work it out. I'm not going to my dad with my problems anymore—especially ones involving you. I have to start dealing with stuff on my own instead of running to other people for advice. I'm going to handle things better now."

"I said some pretty bad things to him." Blaine sighed.

"He deserved each and every one of them. He had no right coming here and talking to you like that. He'll just have to get over it because he acted ridiculous." Kurt said, completely unbothered as far as his father was concerned. He still couldn't believe his dad had gotten involved like that.

"He deserved it but… I probably shouldn't have said it. He's your father. I just felt attacked and he kept _saying_ it and I just… I snapped. I tried to hold it in but the second he said you weren't safe with me I just—." Blaine actually shuddered. "That just… I don't know what it was about _that_ statement but…"

"I lived with my dad for eighteen years, Blaine. I know how he can get when he's pissed off. He's a very good dad and a very good person but he's… he's got a big temper and sometimes it doesn't take a lot to set it off. I'm sorry you had to deal with it. I don't know why he jumped to that conclusion. You practically cried that time you thought you hit a squirrel driving. You wouldn't hurt a fly."

Blaine rested his head on Kurt's shoulder. "Think he hates me?"

"No. He knows he was in the wrong or he would have told me himself." Kurt whispered. "He's just got too much pride to say he was wrong. He doesn't hate you. I bet that's why he and Carole were fighting Friday at dinner."

"I don't think I can go to dinners for a while, Kurt. I'm sorry." Blaine said softly.

"No, it's okay." Kurt ran his hand up and down Blaine's back I don't blame you. Dad crossed a line. If you act like nothing is wrong, he'll try to do it again."

"As long as it won't make you mad."

"I'm sorry I brought your past into it… I don't know why I did but it won't happen again. I want you to be able to trust me and come to me with things and that won't happen if I don't prove that you _can_ tell me things. I want us to talk more. We had better communication for a while and it just keeps getting worse. We need to work on that and _trust_."

"That's a big issue for me." Blaine admitted. "It's hard. But if you work on not using things against me and talking more, then I'll work on trusting more and talking about things more too."

Kurt smiled and kissed the side of his face. "That sounds like a very good deal to me."


	27. Chapter 27

Fridays no longer consisted of Kurt working at CCAD and scrambling to get to Lima in time for dinners. They also no longer consisted of Blaine working on homework in the privacy of their apartment and leaving at the last minute to get to Lima. This is because, for the last several weeks, the boys had skipped dinners. Blaine refused to go to Lima and, honestly, Kurt didn't blame him. Kurt was angry enough at his father too and hadn't talked to him very much in the three weeks that had passed. Sure, Kurt might not have been angry to not go to dinners but he wasn't about to leave Blaine home alone while he went back to his family.

So instead, both boys spent their Fridays on the couch or in the bed working on homework. Which was a lot nicer than sketching in the CCAD studios, Kurt had to admit. It was nice to be able to look up and see Blaine's face instead of gray walls. Especially because everything was much easier lately. Schedules had been made and followed, which erased a great deal of the tension. They hadn't spent more time talking about the fight but Kurt could tell Blaine still felt guilty. As far as Kurt was concerned, he didn't want it brought up again. He was content leaving things where they were—mostly because he didn't want any more fights.

* * *

"I don't understand why you wouldn't let me get Taco Bell."

Kurt, who was sitting at the kitchen table and staring at a sketchbook, looked up when his boyfriend entered the room for the fifth time in ten minutes. Clearly he was bored. Blaine liked social interaction. "And I don't understand why you feel the need to go on long runs, come back sweaty and gross, try to hug me, and pout when I won't let you. Both you after running and Taco Bell are gross."

"Kurt, if you really loved me you would hug me whenever I wanted a hug." Blaine said, looking back at Kurt as he opened the refrigerator door.

Kurt smirked. "That's debatable."

Blaine rolled his eyes and poured himself a glass of lemonade. "Don't give me your spiel on how it's unnatural to drink lemonade during the winter. It's also unnatural to own so many hats that you hardly ever wear anymore. Unnatural and expensive. What are you working on?"

Kurt just snapped his sketchbook shut and pushed it away, rubbing his face. "I don't even know what I'm working on at this point. There are so many assignments and I'm getting really overwhelmed."

Blaine, who had leaned against the counter, made his way over to Kurt and rubbed his back. "Want me to take Kreacher for a walk so you can have some time alone?"

"There just isn't enough time." Kurt muttered. "That wouldn't make a difference."

"What if you dropped a f—."

"Don't say it." Kurt said shortly, interrupting him. It wasn't that he was angry at Blaine. He just didn't want to hear it—which probably meant it was exactly what he needed to hear. But Kurt was stubborn. Too stubborn for his own good most of the time. "No. I'm not dropping classes. I can handle it. I've been better."

"Just because you're home more and we're arguing less doesn't mean anything when it comes to you overworking yourself, Kurt. What if you just dropped one? You'll still be taking classes full time." Blaine said very calmly, squeezing his shoulder. "You're taking on too much."

"I have it all under control." Kurt said firmly. "I'm just a little stressed is all. I just need a break and I'll come back to it in an hour."

Blaine leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Alright, babe."

"How is your head feeling? Did it stop hurting overnight?"

Blaine shrugged and pulled up a seat next to Kurt at the table. "Yeah. Where was Kreacher when you left the house this morning?"

Kurt arched his eyebrow. "On the floor by the bed Why?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Because he keeps pushing me off the bed after you leave."

"What?" Kurt laughed. "He can't do that. He's too small."

"No. He does! Somehow I woke up and was all the way at the edge of the bed and that _damn dog_ is all spread out, with his paws on my side. Fast asleep." Blaine insisted, looking very serious. "This is the fifth time it's happened since the fight. I knew I shouldn't have let him sleep with me."

"Aww, you let Kreacher sleep with you?" Kurt asked, a smile spreading across his face. He knew they loved each other deep down. They just didn't know it yet—well, Kreacher probably knew it and Blaine would remain in denial for a few more years.

"Don't give me that look." Blaine covered his face. "It was a moment of weakness that I regret. It's made him smug. I hate that dog."

"No, you don't." Kurt shook his head. "You'll never admit it, though."

Blaine leaned over until his head was rested on Kurt's shoulder and sighed quietly.

"I love you." Kurt said, kissing his short curls.

"Love you too." Blaine looked up and smiled at him adorably. His smile widened when Kurt leaned over and kissed him. The kiss was short-lived, though, because of the doorbell ringing.

" _Blaine_ …" Kurt said threateningly as he pulled away.

"I didn't order pizza or Chinese!" Blaine yelped, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. "If that is food, the dog is to blame."

"Oh God, Blaine. You're going to get so fat one of these days." Kurt teased, standing up and grabbing his wallet.

"Are you surprising me with food? That would be an awesome surprise." Blaine said, hopping up and following him into the front room. "Because I really didn't order food."

"Mhmm. Just like I didn't order those shoes last night."

"Hey, we had a deal about that. You could order that when I could order—."

Kurt pulled the door open, rolling his eyes. His eyes widened and he grinned when he saw who was behind the door. "Melody!"

Melody, who was sitting on the ground at Carole's feet, clapped her hands excitedly and blew a loud raspberry.

"Say hi, Melody." Carole cooed, scooping her up off of the ground.

"IIIII!" she squealed and reached for Kurt, grinning.

"It almost sounds like she's saying hi!" Kurt said excitedly, taking Melody from Carole and hugging her close. He hadn't seen her since the big fight, which had probably been the hardest thing about not going to dinners. He missed seeing his little sister weekly. Something just didn't feel right when he was away from her for too long.

"Oh, she'll be saying it soon. She's been trying for a few weeks now." Carole laughed, hugging Kurt and then moving to hug Blaine. "I was hoping you'd both be home. Kurt, you haven't seen Melody in almost a month and it's been even longer for Blaine."

"So has she said any words yet?" Blaine asked, reaching over and tickling Melody's tummy. "Hello, pumpkin!"

"Not quite yet, but she's almost there. We've banned Finn from being alone with her because we caught him trying to teach her bad words. Both he and Puck. I don't know if those two will ever grow up."

"We can't have Melody saying naughty words." Kurt cooed to Melody as she touched his face and squirmed from Blaine's tickling fingers. "Isn't that right? We'll just have to beat Finn up, won't we?"

Melody blinked at him and then giggled, shoving her fingers into his mouth. She squealed in delight as Kurt pretended to eat her fingers, her other hand flailing and nearly smacking Blaine in the face.

"Have you boys eaten dinner yet? Is everything going okay?" Carole asked, laughing.

"Well Kurt wants to make Rigatoni but I'd rather have Taco Bell." Blaine said, watching Kurt go over to the corner and crawl around on the floor with Melody. He had a silly smile on his face as he watched them play. It always gave him silly butterflies in his stomach whenever he watched Kurt around babies. "And everything is good."

"We're getting along nicely." Kurt added from the corner as he pretended to tackle Melody to the floor. Once she was on her back he instantly began tickling her. "We've only resorted to physical assault twice. I call it a vast improvement."

"What he means is he's only staying after school past classes one night a week now." Blaine rolled his eyes. "So we're spending more time together."

"Especially on Fridays." Kurt chirped as Melody scooted away from him as quickly as possible. "C'mere, girly. I haven't seen you in three weeks. Kurt hasn't seen you in a very, very long time."

Melody let out a loud squeak and, after she was secure in Kurt's arms, hugged him.

"Oh, how sweet." Carole cooed. "She loves to give hugs."

Blaine made his way over. "Can I steal the baby?"

Melody immediately thrust her hands out in his direction, eyes lighting up.

"I think the baby has given permission." Kurt laughed, handing his sister over. He went and plopped on the couch next to Carole. Now that Blaine was preoccupied he felt he could bring his father up. He hadn't wanted to say anything before because he wasn't sure how Blaine would react and didn't want to cause any awkwardness. "How is Dad?"

"He's not very happy that you two haven't been to dinners." Carole admitted. "But it's his fault. He made his bed; he'll just have to lie in it."

"Does he know you're here?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, I told him I was going to come. I thought Melody would like to see you two. Apparently I was right." Carole said, smiling as Melody gave Blaine an absolutely adorable hug while squealing. "She really loves you boys."

"So this visit has nothing to do with you wanting to make sure we haven't murdered each other?" Kurt asked, laughing.

"I sure hope everything is better by now. I have a feeling you two wouldn't be so happy right now if things weren't okay." Carole waved her hand a bit. "It's more the fact that I worry about you two up here all alone. Your father worries too, you know?"

"We're not all alone, though. Finn goes to the Cincinnati campus most of the time. And I'm pretty sure he eats more here than _we_ do." Kurt pointed out.

Carole laughed. "I'm not surprised. Soon he'll just come use your washer and dryer. I'll never see him again."

"Oh he's not going near our washer." Kurt said firmly. "I don't even like Blaine near the washer sometimes. He likes to throw everything in together and see what happens."

"That was only once and the only white thing was an old t-shirt I never wear. I just wanted to experiment." Blaine pouted, coming over and sitting on Kurt's other side. Melody grabbed his hair and tugged, shrieking happily. "Hey now, that's not nice. What if I tug yours, huh?'

Melody stared at him, very confused, as he tugged her hair very gently. She blinked several times before letting go of his hair and crawling off of his lap and onto Kurt's, making herself comfortable and refusing to look in his direction..

"I don't think she liked that very much! It's not so fun when he does it to us, is it?" Kurt giggled, hugging her. Melody had made him completely forget about any homework he had to do. He just wanted to focus on his sister while he could.

Melody just let out a string of baby babble, moving on to her mother's lap in an attempt to get even farther away from Blaine. She stayed there, very content, until Kreacher pranced into the room. Her eyes widened and she watched him very carefully, now scooting until she was in-between Kurt and Carole.

"Doggy?" Kurt cooed, playing with her hair. "See the doggy?"

"Ahy!" she cooed back quietly, covering her face.

"You're right to not like him. He's evil." Blaine laughed.

"Blaine! Don't say that. She'll be scared of him." Kurt hissed.

"She can't understand."

"You'd be surprised, Blaine." Carole said. "She understands some of what we say, she just can't talk back."

Blaine reached over to tickle her but she gave him a very displeased look and scooted even closer to Kurt. Clearly she was not his biggest fan, at least at that moment.

"Oh no, she's mad at you!" Carole laughed.

"She's mad?" Blaine frowned. "I thought she was playing."

"Yes, I think she's a little mad. She's easily agitated sometimes, especially in the evening." Carole scooped her up. "Go see Blaine."

Melody's lip began to wobble up and down and her eyes filled with tears, causing Carole to laugh again.

"You are _rotten_ , Melody. Absolutely rotten." Kurt cooed, attempting to hand her to Blaine since he was in the middle. She shrieked loudly and flailed her arms and legs angrily. "Okay, okay. Blaine, you've made her _really_ mad."

"In retrospect, it probably wasn't smart to pull her hair." Blaine admitted. "But I was only joking."

"No, Kurt's right. She's just rotten." Carole said, standing. "Mellie, are you hungry?"

Melody immediately stopped her fit and stared at her mother with big eyes, grinning.

"She's in it all for the attention." Kurt snorted. "I did that all of the time apparently."

"You only get food if Blaine gets to feed you." Carole said in a sing-song voice.

Melody immediately crawled towards Blaine, seating herself in his lap and facing him eagerly.

"I see how it is." Blaine laughed. "You just like pulling my hair and getting food."

Carole pulled a jar of baby food out of Melody's diaper bag and handed it to Blaine. "The way to her heart is sweet potatoes."

"At least she's easier to make happy than her brother." Blaine teased, twisting the lid off of the jar. Melody began to bounce up and down excitedly, extending her fingers towards the spoon. "Hold on there, hold on!"

Melody gurgled and hit his arm repeatedly.

"She's worse than Kurt when it comes to getting me out of the bookstore!" Blaine exclaimed, beginning to feed her. She made a habit of sticking her fingers in her mouth and smearing the food all over Blaine's face and shirt as he fed her.

"Melody…" Carole scolded. "Don't get Blaine messy."

She just giggled and continued to messily eat, clearly having forgotten any anger she held towards Blaine. It was hard to be ny faces.

"How is school going for you boys? Grades good?" Carole asked, looking between Kurt and Blaine.

"Blaine's got straight A's again so far. Seven classes again, too." Kurt shook his head. "I don't' know how he does it." angry with someone who was feeding you your favorite food, cooing at you, and making fun

"Sold my soul to an old lady in Peru." Blaine joked, finally placing an empty jar of baby food on the coffee table and wiping himself and Melody clean. "All clean!"

She squealed and moved herself between Blaine and Kurt, staring around curiously.

"She missed us." Kurt cooed, bending down and kissing her cheek. "Do you miss us?"

"Finn's been annoying her." Carole told them. "When she sees him, she crawls off and tries to hide."

"We don't want Finn to teach us bad words." Kurt kissed the top of her head. "Do we, Mellie?" He looked up and sighed a bit, looking sad. "I miss her."

"You two can come down whenever you feel up to it." Carole said quietly. "And I'll bring her down to see you all as much as you'd like until then. But don't draw this out too much longer than necessary."

Blaine ruffled Melody's hair and sighed also, nodding. He definitely wasn't ready to see Kurt's father yet. He still got as angry as he had almost four weeks ago when he thought about Burt's confrontation. He was still just as hurt by the accusation, too. As if he would ever lay a hand on Kurt. He loved Kurt. Kurt was his everything, quite literally.

Carole stood. "I better get her home. It's a bit of a drive. We just wanted to see our boys, didn't we?"

Kurt frowned even more and pulled Melody onto his lap, hugging her close. It made Blaine feel more than a little guilty to see how sad Kurt was to say goodbye—but it wasn't his fault, he reminded himself firmly. He hadn't gone to someone's house and accused them of something. Kurt's father had. This wasn't _his_ fault. And he wasn't ready to forgive and forget yet.

He only stopped thinking about it when Kurt passed over Melody, still looking just as sad. "Say goodbye to the baby?"

"Bye bye, pumpkin!" Blaine kissed her cheek and gave her a tight squeeze. He smiled widely when she gave him a slobbery kiss on the cheek and giggled.

"You boys be careful." Carole said, hugging each of them and then taking Melody. "And please call if you need anything. I'll try to bring her over soon."

"Tell Dad I said hi." Kurt said, leading her to the door and trying to look cheerful.

"I will, hon." She promised.

"Bye, Carole." Blaine waved and then made a funny face at Melody, who let out a high-pitched giggle.

"Bye, boys." Carole gave them a sad sort of smile before letting herself out.

Kurt made his way over and plopped next to Blaine, cuddling up to him. "I'm tired."

"Me too." Blaine said, arm going around Kurt. "And my head is hurting again. I could go to bed right now probably and it's only, like, seven."

"I wish you'd go to a doctor or something." Kurt mumbled into his shoulder, eyes closed.

"It's only been a few days and it's usually at night. I'm sure I'm just tired." Blaine shrugged a bit. "I'm fine."

Kurt nuzzled Blaine's arm. "Two more days and I want you to go to a doctor or something."

"I'm supposed to worry about you and not the other way around, Kurt." Blaine waited several seconds for an answer before looking down. Kurt was fast asleep, gripping Blaine's shirt tightly and his mouth slightly open. Blaine smiled a bit and moved so they were both in a more comfortable position. Now that he thought about it, a nap sounded excellent.

* * *

Kurt was trying to nap. Really, he was. He had been up the previous night working on a design until after two in the morning. As soon as he had made it into his house after a long day at school, he had curled up and fell asleep.

He would have liked to have slept in the middle of the night like normal people, but that wasn't working out too well for him. There just wasn't a whole lot of time to do things like sleep between trying to force Blaine to go to a doctor for his headaches, trying to re-potty train Kreacher, working to make sure no tension arose with Blaine and trying to keep up with school all while being home most of the time he wasn't in class.

There may have been no tension between Kurt and Blaine as a couple, but there was definitely tension in the house. Blaine was having trouble focusing on homework because of his headaches—not that that prevented him from receiving full grades, of course. Kurt was not having trouble focusing on work. Rather, he was having trouble focusing on anything _but_ work. It was beginning to take its toll.

Sleep was hard to come by. Most of the sleep that he got during the school week was because of his naps. His naps that he never intended to take. It didn't matter that it was an accidental nap, though. He still was not overly thrilled with being awoken from his nap by hearing Blaine's best friend talking. He sat up quickly. He could hear Blaine in the kitchen doing something but the computer was nowhere in sight.

The noise was coming from the bedroom. Wes wasn't talking, he was _shouting_.

Kurt made his way down the hall, stopping in his doorway. He saw he back of Blaine's laptop was open and on the bed. He could not see Wes, Wes could not see him, but he could sure hear Wes. That was the entire problem. That he could hear Wes.

"Blaine… Blaine… Blaine… BLAINE!"

"He said he was going to get a drink, Wes. He'll be right back."

"BLAINE… BLAINE… **BLAINE**!"

"I don't think he'll appreciate you waking Kurt up. He told you he was napping."

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest and leaned in the doorway. Surely David would shut Wes up and he wouldn't have to stalk over angrily. Right?

"Hey, it's the dog. Hey, dog! Dog, yeah! Come here! See that shoe back there? Looks yummy doesn't it? Why isn't the dog going to get the shoe? Why is he getting on the bed? Hey, dog, that's where Blaine was supposed to sit."

Kurt's jaw dropped. Those were _his_ shoes. His new shoes. The shoes Blaine was probably still slightly annoyed at him for buying—but Kurt had needs, okay? One of his needs was those new shoes. Those new, beautiful, and incredibly comfortable shoes that he hoped Kreacher would go no where near. Clearly Kurt was going to have to step in and end this, if only for the sake of his shoes.

"Wes, the dog can't understand you. And I don't think persuading the dog to eat anyone's shoes will get you on Blaine's good list." David maintained his usual calm voice.

" _Blaaaaaine_! Oh, no, it's Kurt. That's okay, too. Hi, Kurt!"

Kurt, who probably would have not allowed himself to be seen by Wes and David had he known what his bed hair looked like, just frowned before shutting the laptop. Unfortunately Blaine had it set up so that closing the laptop would not turn it off so Blaine's friends could still be heard.

"Blackness! Blackness!" Wesley shouted dramatically.

"Oh my God!" Kurt opened the laptop again. When the screen relit itself, he saw Wes flailing his arms and David staring blankly at the screen. As soon as he noticed Kurt he sat up a little straighter and smiled widely.

"Hello, Kurt." He said cheerfully, waving. "Did Wes wake you up?"

"Yes." Kurt sat down next to Kreacher before pulling Kreacher onto his lap. "Just in time for me to hear Wes trying to talk Kreacher into eating _my_ shoes. Not Blaine's."

"Ah, that's why he didn't go for them. He only likes destroying Blaine's things, remember?" David said thoughtfully as Wes grinned sheepishly. "How's school going, Kurt?"

"Fine." Kurt yawned. "You guys?"

"School is going wonderfully." David said cheerfully. "How's Mercedes?"

"Like you don't know. I haven't talked to her in a few days. Well she texted me abou—why?" Kurt asked curiously.

"I might have made a trip to New York over the weekend to see her."

Kurt's jaw dropped open. " _What_? You flew to New York to see Mercedes? Why? Or you just were in New York and saw her?"

" _To see her_." Wes repeated. "They're _in love_."

"We're not in love. I've only seen her in person two times now, Wes. Love doesn't happen the first moment you see someone." David said very calmly. "But I do have feelings for her and she has feelings for me. We'd like to possibly pursue those feelings."

Kurt stared at the screen, a mixture of shock, confused, and excitement on his face. " _Really? Really and truly? You two are going to date?"_

"Probably, yes. Is that okay with you?"

"I _told_ her she'd love you!" Kurt exclaimed, looking much more awake. "Oh my God. Oh my God. I am so excited! This is absolutely amazing! I've got to call her tonight! How was the trip? What did you do? Did you kiss?"

"We walked around Times Square and had dinner. And yes, we did kiss."

"See? Sounds like love to me." Wes shrugged in a nonchalant way, looking bored. "It sure is taking Blaine a long time to get a drink."

"Maybe he forgot about us."

"Doubtful considering I could hear you all the way in the kitchen." Blaine said loudly coming into the room. His face lit up when he saw Kurt, wide awake and sitting on the bed. "Kurt!"

"Gaw, now kiss." Wes cooed. "We need a kiss as sickingly cute as that dopey grin on your face."

"He was asleep when I got home. Leave me alone." Blaine made a half hearted glare at the laptop screen and then sat next to Kurt, kissing his cheek. "I brought you some lasagna. I put it in the fridge, so all you need to do is heat it up."

"Thanks, I'm starving." Kurt kissed his cheek back and stood. "Don't keep my boyfriend too long, Wes and David. And David, this Mercedes discussion isn't over. I'll be calling or texting you."

"Mercedes discussion?" Blaine asked, moving into Kurt's spot and absent mindedly patting Kreacher's head. He looked down at the dog as soon as he realized what he was doing, frowned, shrugged, and then resumed his petting. "What about Mercedes?"

"They're in love." Wes said, much less dramatically the second time around. "David here is playing Romeo hard core. And he went to see her in New York. And then they kissed."

"Really?" Blaine asked, arching his eyebrow. "You've only actually met her once or twice."

"Says the man who serenaded an older man in a Gap store." David rolled his eyes. "We happen to have talked a lot over text, phone, and Skype since New Years. We have a lot in common. I really like her. And she really likes me."

"Are you dating a girl you've only met once or twice?" Blaine asked slowly. "Long distance is hard enough when the relationship doesn't _start out_ as long distance. You don't understand how hard it was for Kurt and me before his attack. And he was only four hours away."

"We're not dating _yet_." David shrugged. "But we will be soon. We've discussed it and we think that we feel strongly enough about each other to make it work."

Blaine blinked at the screen, looking doubtful.

"It might seem a little crazy," David continued. "But maybe that makes it better. It feels _right_ , you know? We've only met a few times, but we just clicked."

"Literally. Over a phone connection." Wes snorted loudly, causing Blaine to almost spit out some of the Coke he had been sipping. "Get it, Blaine? _Clicked?"_

"Yes, I got it." Blaine laughed. "Very clever. What's your major again? Lessons on being punny?"

"I see what you did there. I'm majoring in something like that." Wes shrugged.

"In all seriousness, David, you and Mercedes barely know each other. You _don't_ know each other. It's going to be really hard for you two to have a real relationship. I mean, it's going to be virtually impossible. Then you two will break up and it's going to cause problems for everyone. You and her will be upset. Kurt will side with her and I'll side with you, of course. So then Kurt and I will start fighting. No one likes when Kurt and I argue. Especially Kurt and I. All of that grief over someone you barely even know."

"Then stay out of it." David said very calmly. "It's a good possibility we're going to date. I don't see any reason why it should affect you and Kurt in the slightest. Besides, Kurt approves."

"Kurt approves because he thinks matchmaking is his second calling." Blaine rolled his eyes. It's going to happen like this. First, Kurt will go around declaring that his second calling is a matchmaker for weeks. Second, I will have to listen to Kurt recount every single interaction between you and Mercedes—because Mercedes _will_ tell him everything, David. Third, Kurt will want to have double dates anytime Mercedes is in Ohio. I see you enough—no offense, but you eat me out of house and home. Fourth, any time you two have an argument, as I said, we will be forced to pick sides. There will be no 'not talking about it.'"

"But they're in love." Wes repeated. "Love, love, love, love. Everyone is in love but me."

"They're not in love." Blaine said, sounding (and feeling) annoyed. "They've only met each other once or twice."

"And you were in love with Jeremiah after three coffee dates." David rolled his eyes.

"My point exactly. Where am I now?" Blaine asked. "It's just… not a good idea. You two barely know each other and live several hours apart. There may be some attraction there but, realistically… it won't last."

"I appreciate your concern, Blaine, but I'm a big boy. I didn't tell you to break up with Kurt when he transferred back to McKinley during our senior year."

"It was _two hours away_." Blaine scoffed. "Mercedes is a _flight_ away. How can you expect to have a _real_ relationship with someone who you can never see?"

"Right. Because you see Kurt so much."

Wes, who had previously appeared uninterested, suddenly sat up straight. "Gentlemen, let's not start taking jabs like that. Blaine, you've got a headache. David, you're tired. Taking our frustrations out on each other is bad."

"I'm just saying that it's not a very good idea." Blaine mumbled.

"You're saying it's a bad deal because of how it will affect you when it shouldn't." David responded. "It doesn't need to affect anyone else."

"That's not the only reason. You barely know her. Long distance relationships are _hard_ when you're already madly in love with the person. How hard do you think it will be considering you two barely know each other?" Blaine asked, well aware this discussion was just going around in circles.

"Uh… guys… Remember me?" Wes waved. "I am calling for the discussion to be dropped. Clearly the shortest member is in a bad moooood. Is there trouble in paradise, Blainers?"

"Look, it's no big deal. It's between Mercedes and I. If we happen to break up or argue, you and Kurt just stay out of it and no one will have an issue." David said coolly, ignoring Wes.

"Am I invisible? Did you two mute my audio? Come on, guys. This isn't cool!" Wes whined, shaking his computer screen.

"No, Wes, we can hear you. Sorry." Blaine said, feeling a bit guilty. He knew he was being grumpier than necessary and that was because of his headaches. Clearly he needed some more Advil. He didn't know why they wouldn't just go away. He didn't even feel sick. It didn't make sense. "I'm not in a bad mood, per se. I've just got another headache."

"Wisdom teeth." David coughed loudly.

"It's not my wisdom teeth! I don't have wisdom teeth!" Blaine snapped. No, no, no. Wisdom teeth meant pain and surgery. Besides, he didn't see any teeth coming up. So it wasn't wisdom teeth. Most definitely not something as serious as wisdom teeth.

"Does your jaw hurt?" David asked.

"Yeah, but I think I've just got a cavity." Blaine sighed, not putting two and two together. That or just not wanting to _admit_ what he really knew.

"Go to a dentist before it gets worse." David said. "My sister waited until hers came up more. She could barely open her mouth, Blaine. It's not that big of a deal to get them out."

"It's not my wisdom teeth." Blaine frowned. David had been saying his headaches were because of his wisdom teeth for a week and a half now but Blaine still refused to believe it. He was only twenty! Weren't people older when they had them out? Plus, why had no dentist mentioned it before if they were about to pop up? It just had to be something else. Mainly because Blaine hated doctors of any sort. It probably had to do with his hatred for his dad, but he had always been afraid of doctors. Whatever the reason, he hated them and he sure didn't want them cutting things out of his jaw.

"Getting them out is _awesome_." Wes said, relieved that the conversation had moved on. "I'd get them out once a year if I could. You get to be on drugs legally and watch TV and eat ice cream for days. What could possibly suck about that?"

"I don't want to get them taken out. Can't they just come up?"

"And ruin that multi-thousand dollar smile?" David asked. "Besides, it _hurts_. Call Megan if you don't believe me, Blaine. She was miserable. And she's not even a baby about pain like you are."

Blaine just groaned and rubbed his face. "I don't want to get them taken out."

"You loved when you had Strep and Kurt cooed over you for days. Just think. All that cooing and not even a sore throat!" Wes said cheerfully, clearly trying to make Blaine feel better. "And you can watch Disney movies and read books. Get out of school. I bet Kurt's step mom will come and love on you too. You know that you're like her baby."

"I'm regretting getting on this Skype call." Blaine muttered, feeling anxious.

"We'll take that in stride knowing you're only in a bad mood because of your _wisdom teeth_." David flashed Blaine a wide smile, clearly showing that he wasn't annoyed with Blaine after their slight disagreement. Which was good because an argument with one of his friend's was the last thing Blaine needed right now.

"On to more important things." Wes cleared his throat loudly. "All in favor of Wes transferring to Ohio, please raise your hand."

Blaine, who had taken that precise moment to take another drink of his soda, choked and coughed loudly.

"Don't joke with us, Wes. That isn't funny." David said very seriously. "Are you really thinking about moving back?"

"Thinking about it. It's great here and all but I don't really like it. I haven't talked to my parents about it yet, though. I wanted to see what you all thought. The Columbus campus offers Biochem… which means _Blaine and I can party hard!_ "

David just rolled his eyes. This statement was very true, because Blaine and Wes were the only ones to "party hard." David was the one who took care of their plastered asses. "I'm sure this will lead to a lot of partying. But I don't think Kurt will appreciate Blaine getting arrested again, so we might want to keep the _hard_ partying to a minimum."

"We're not fifteen, David. And besides, there probably aren't any Super Troopers in Cincinnati. It's too big." Wes pointed out. "Thoughts, Blaine?"

"Move back, move back, move back, move back, move back!" Blaine chanted, sounding eerily like Melody. "Please. We miss you. It'll be so much fun, Wes! The three of us can hang out on the weekends."

"And Kurt!" Wes chirped.

"I don't know how much Kurt will want to hang out with all three of us. We can be a _little_ hard to handle." David said. "But, yes. We are all in favor of you moving back to Ohio. Assuming it is what _you_ want to do."

"And assuming we can visit you in California at least once just to say we did it. Summer road trip, anyone?" Blaine added. "I've never been to California."

"It's not that great." Wes shrugged. "But sure. As long as it's before my lease is up, which is two weeks after finals."

"KURT, WE'RE GOING TO CALIFORNIA!" Blaine yelled. Kreacher, who had fallen asleep as a result of Blaine's petting, growled and stalked off.

Kurt poked his head in. "California?"

"LA! Wes is going to transfer to OSU so we're going to stay in Cali before he does."

"Oh God. Are you really?" Kurt questioned, sitting next to Blaine on the bed.

"I'm thinking about it." Wes nodded. "Are you in favor?"

"Why not? May as well add Wes to the list of Boys Who Never Leave."

"Who else is on that list?" Wes asked.

"David and Finn." Kurt laughed.

"See? Even Kurt supports it." Blaine said, obviously much happier. "Come on, Wes. Do it. Don't leave us hanging."

"You can't just ask questions like that and not follow through." David added, nodding eagerly.

"Just think of all the partying." Blaine grinned. "And drinking."

"I'm liking this idea less." Kurt said, eyes widening. "You drunk once was more than enough for me, Blaine Anderson. I don't want to _ever_ have to do that again."

"That's David's job anyway." Blaine waved his hand in the air as Kurt leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder.

"Alright, well, I've got to go." David said, putting an end to the fun. "I've got a research paper to work on."

"I should go too." Blaine nodded. "So I can make sure the youngest one gets some sleep. He likes to stay up until three in the morning and wake up at 6:30."

"Fine, leave me." Wes exclaimed dramatically.

Blaine waved and, after everyone said their goodbyes (five or six times, from Wes), turned his laptop off. He moved it onto the nightstand and then made himself comfortable on the bed, pulling Kurt close. "Sleepy?"

"Mhmm." Kurt nodded, draping an arm around Blaine. "I got my homework done. Sorry we have to put a hold on hashing out the Michigan trip plans."

"Hey, it's okay. Spring break isn't until April. It's only the beginning of March. Don't worry." Blaine gave him a squeeze and kissed the side of his head.

"We can do it tomorrow after I get home. I promise." Kurt said, smiling a bit and curling up closer.

They laid in silence for several minutes, Blaine anxiously biting his lip. He should have thought about the headaches being because of his wisdom teeth. It really did make sense, but he absolutely _hated_ doctors. It was irrational maybe, but they made him nervous. They always had and probably always would.

"Kurt?"

"Hmm?" Kurt asked in a groggy voice.

"Do you think it's my wisdom teeth?" Blaine asked softly. "The headaches?"

Kurt sat himself up a bit and blinked at Blaine sleepily. "Haven't you had them out?"

"No." Blaine frowned. "Have you?"

"When I was thirteen." Kurt nodded and reached over to play with Blaine's short hair. "It might be, babe."

"I don't want to get them out." Blaine sat up as well and looked at Kurt.

"It's not that bad." Kurt reassured him, scooting closer. "They put you to sleep and thirty minutes later they wake you up and it's all done. I think I was even up and around that night. As much as dad would let me. I just ate a lot of ice cream and pudding for a few days."

"Did it hurt?" Blaine bit his lip.

"You can't feel it when they're _doing_ it, no. But you're a little sore afterwards. They give you medicine that helps a lot. I didn't even take a lot of the medicine, though. I just slept."

Blaine let out a shaky sigh.

"That's _loads_ better than you being sick, Blaine. You should be glad. It's so easy to get your wisdom teeth out."

"That's easy for _you_ to say."

"Yes, because I've already done it." Kurt said very calmly. "Tomorrow you should call and make an appointment to go to the dentist. They'll be able to tell you if that's what you even need to worry about."

"Do I have to?" Blaine whined.

"You're almost twenty. I can't _tell_ you to do anything. But I think you should go… Here, let's get some sleep."

"I don't think I can sleep just yet. I made myself anxious." Blaine admitted, but he moved back into a laying position anyway.

"Hmm." Kurt lay back down and opened his arms for Blaine to crawl into, pulling the boy into a tight hug as soon as he was in them. "Michigan then. What's the plan?"

"Well, it's open to discussion… but the way I figure it is this. I only have Tuesday and Thursday classes anyway. Your spring break is the week before mine. On the Tuesday of your spring break, we can leave. I'll go to class that Tuesday and we'll drive through the night." Blaine said, trying to not think about his headache. "I can afford to miss that Thursday. We'll get there early Wednesday morning and we'll come back the following Monday, meaning you can miss your Monday class and make it back for your Tuesday classes. That way we get a full vacation but both of us only miss one day of classes. Is that okay with you?"

Kurt yawned and nodded, pulling his boyfriend even closer. "That sounds fine to me. There is nothing due on the Monday or Tuesday because it'll be the first day back. Even CCAD isn't that cruel."

The bedroom door, which had not been completely shut, crept open and they heard little paws padding on the floor. Several seconds later Kreacher pranced up to them and wedged himself between the two boys.

"Mhhh Kreacher, we were snuggling." Kurt whined, sounding half asleep. In truth, he _was_ half asleep. Despite the fact that it was only eleven, he was absolutely exhausted. He may had been home more, but he had been working just as late still—sometimes later now because it was easy to get lost in work when you didn't have a two hour drive to get home. It was March, midterms were near, and he just couldn't help it. He spent the majority of his days exhausted.

Blaine attempted to move Kreacher several times to no avail. Eventually he simply resigned, stretching his arm out to run his fingers through Kurt's messy hair. Thinking about Michigan was lightening his mood considerably. He didn't feel anxious and sick to his stomach. Instead he began to feel excited. In a few short weeks they would be in Michigan. _Michigan_. He hadn't been there in years and he honestly couldn't wait to go back. "I'm so excited, Kurt!"

"For what?" Kurt, who had began to doze off, opened his eyes.

"Michigan! You're going to _love_ it. Well, I hope you love it because I fully intend to spend summers there when we're both awesome enough to not have to work year 'round. I'm holding onto hope that my grandmother will die before she remembers to cut me out of her will. I'm set up to get the house."

Kurt's jaw dropped. "Blaine! That's awful!"

"You'll understand when you see the house." Blaine protested.

"It must be _really_ nice to make you say something like that." Kurt laughed a bit. "Where are we going to stay?"

"I really want to stay at our house." Blaine said, almost desperately. "I just want to see it again. I'm afraid this might be the last chance I ever get to."

"But what if your parents decide to pop up there?" Kurt asked reasonably. "If they showed up and we were there, all hell would break loose."

"I already got that base covered. First, my parents _never_ go up during the spring. They only go up during the summer and sometimes the winter. Alex did do some digging just in case, though. Dad will be in Tampa four of the days we're going up there. Mom would never go up alone. And Grandma is so caught up in her pre-campaigning stuff. She's the only other one who would ever go to the house. Going during spring break is _genius_. The place our house is will practically be dead because almost no one lives there all year."

"Are you sure? We've got enough money for a hotel if you want to, Blaine." Kurt said.

"No. I'm very sure. I _really_ want to stay at the house again. I just… I'd be really sad if I didn't do it at least one more time… Because I have a feeling they'll change her will. If we're going up there, I want to make the best of it." Blaine looked down.

"Okay. We'll do that then." Kurt leaned over and kissed his cheek. "It just means we'll have more money to shop."

"Oh, you won't be able to shop there. The shops are nothing like what you're thinking. There is a book store, there's a store for gifts and knick knacks and stuff, but they don't any clothing stores in Harbor Springs. You have to actually leave Harbor Springs to get to most things."

"Oh." Kurt blinked. "Well, what do you do up there?"

"It's just nice and pretty. There is the beach. People sail a lot. We have a sail boat but we won't do that. Sailing is alright but I wouldn't want to waste time that way. It's neat to sit on the pier and watch the huge boats come in, but I don't know how many there will be in the spring time. Usually I just walk around a lot. People are friendly. All of the kids make friends with each other. I guess I'm not a kid anymore, though. It's just…" Blaine shrugged. "I don't know. It's nice. And Tom's Mom's cookies are the best. And you can get all kinds of amazing fudge at the fudge shop. And you can get birthday batter ice cream."

"You're in it for the junk food!" Kurt accused.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "No. But I'll probably bring a lot of cookies home… I hope you like it."

"If you like it, I'm sure I will." Kurt pulled him close. "Now that you're not so anxious I think we should try to get some sleep. We've both got classes in the morning. We can work out more plans tomorrow, okay?"

"Mmkay." Blaine yawned and laid his head on Kurt's chest. "Thanks for sitting up with me."

"Thanks for not yelling at me for buying those shoes." Kurt chirped.

"You weren't joking about that?" Blaine's head shot up.

Kurt just gently nudged his head back down. "Now is time for sleep."

" _Kurt…_ "

" _Sleep…"_ Kurt said, curling into him and closing his eyes.

* * *

Kurt was sitting in the living room and working on a sketch a few days later when Blaine came into the house, looking pale and absolutely pitiful. He immediately tossed his sketchbook aside and went over to his boyfriend. "What's wrong?"

" _I have to have my wisdom teeth out_!" Blaine exclaimed, hazel eyes wide. "I don't want to—to go _under the knife_!"

"It's not that bad. We've discussed this several times since last week."

"He took an X-ray because it was hurting and apparently I'm a freak of nature."

"You're what?" Kurt questioned, putting his hands on Blaine's arms in an attempt to stop his wild gesturing.

"Because my wisdom teeth are coming in!"

"Blaine, everybody has wisdom teeth. It doesn't make you a freak of nature. I got mine taken out when I was thirteen." Kurt said very calmly. "Remember?"

"You didn't have teeth under your wisdom teeth!"

"Teeth… under…?" Kurt asked slowly, having a hard time following him.

"My wisdom teeth are coming in but there are extra ones underneath them on the bottom! And my mouth really hurts. It hurt before I went, but now that I know that it _really_ hurts!"

"That is because now you're thinking about it more." Kurt put his hand on Blaine's back, trying very hard not to smile at Blaine's dramatics. He rubbed his hand up and down his back in an attempt to soothe him. It wasn't often that Blaine worked himself up like this, but it never failed at being cute. Blaine was just adorable no matter what the circumstances. "After you have them out your mouth will feel much better. And I'll get to take care of you. I like doing that."

"No. You can't. You'll be in school." Blaine sighed miserably. "I'll be all alone."

Kurt rolled his eyes and moved his hand up to stroke Blaine's short curls. "You won't be all alone. I'll drive you there myself, and I'll bring you home. We can watch The Little Mermaid and Clean House. I'll let you watch as much of that godforsaken show as you want." He said gently. "Okay?"

"But you've got school. You can't miss school because I have six teeth removed. _Six_!"

Kurt bit his lip. While he could have swung missing one or two days of school, there was no way he could miss more than that. He remembered very well how pitiful Blaine had been with Strep throat. He could only imagine how pitiful the boy would be after having six teeth surgically removed. Having four pulled out at thirteen had been bad enough and Kurt wasn't even afraid of doctors.

"Can't I just let them grow in?"

"You have extra teeth in your jaw, Blaine. It's not like normal people who can let them grow in and mess up their teeth. I can't imagine it'd be very comfortable to have teeth growing under teeth...

"It's the middle of school. I don't have _time_ for this."

"Well maybe you should make it for—."

"No." Blaine said instantly, eyes widening. " _No_."

"Blaine, you've got to get them out and I don't want you here alone. What if something happens?" Kurt sighed.

"No." Blaine repeated stubbornly. "Please, no. I need this trip, Kurt. I want this trip. You _promised_ me this trip."

"Don't be unfair like that, Blaine." Kurt said very quietly, putting his hands on either side of Blaine's face. "That trip can happen after finals. As long as I've got at least two or three days with you, you'll be fine. You could get it done the Thursday before my vacation and by time your vacation starts and mine ends, you'll be more than capable of taking care of yourself."

"Kurt…" Blaine frowned, looking more pitiful than he had upon entering the apartment. "I need a break. I want—I need to get away and have nothing to worry about. I am really stressed out and it was going to be ten days of me and you doing nothing _in Michigan_. I don't want to cancel the trip."

"Blaine, I know you. You hate doctors. You hate pain more. When you had Strep, you were pretty much immobile for days. You're just one of those people who needs to be taken care of when you're sick or hurt. We need to do it over spring break; otherwise you're going to keep having these headaches until God knows when you get them out." Kurt said calmly. "We'll _postpone_ the trip. We'll go _right_ after finals. This is something you need to get taken care of or you'll be miserable."

" _Kurt…_ "

" _Blaine…_ "

Blaine moved away and sighed. "Fine. I'll sacrifice my trip to have six teeth cut out of my jaw bone. But I'm not happy about it."

"You aren't _sacrificing_ it. You're _postponing_ it. The trip will still happen. I promised you a trip and you're going to get one. I promise… Hey, where are you going?"

"To google getting your wisdom teeth out." Blaine, who had started to walk away, responded.

"Oh no, no, no! You are not going near the internet if you're doing that!" Kurt said very quickly, grabbing his arm. "You're going to find every horror story you can find and freak out. No, sir."

"Of course I'm going to." Blaine said stubbornly. "I want to be prepared."

" _Blaine,_ " Kurt sighed . "Please. Trust me. Everything will be fine. You don't need to look up anything on the internet and get yourself freaked out. You're freaked out enough on your own, okay?"

"I don't like doctors. They give me anxiety."

"I see that." Kurt leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Here is what happens. You go in and they put an IV in your arm. Then you go to sleep. They take out your teeth in about fifteen minutes. Then they wake you up, you act hilarious because you're high, I bring you home, and you fall asleep. You get to eat mashed potatoes and ice cream ere's Here

Your mouth will hurt for a few but it really isn't that bad. Meanwhile, I'll be bringing you books and movies and magazines in bed to keep you occupied. Does that really sound that bad?"

Blaine looked thoughtful and then shrugged. "I guess not when you put it that way… I get to pick the movies, right?"

"Of course." Kurt said, ruffling his hair. "And it's better for you. You do it on my spring break. You'll only be bedridden for a few days. You'll still have your entire spring break to do whatever you want."

"I can get ahead on my reading." Blaine said eagerly.

"Do you feel a little better?" Kurt asked, fingers now running through Blaine's dark hair.

"A little bit." Blaine admitted, chewing on his lip. "I'm still anxious about it, though."

"That's understandable. I was scared to get mine out too. Dad had to bribe me with new clothes to get me out of the house that morning." Kurt laughed a bit. "I was bribed with clothes a lot."

"I'll have to keep in mind that you're easily bribed with clothes then." Blaine teased.

"Would you like Taco Bell for dinner tonight?" Kurt asked after rolling his eyes. "Only because you're 'had a rough day.'"

"If it ends in you _telling me_ that I can have Taco Bell willingly, I think I'd enjoy having rough days more often."


	28. Chapter 28

"Are you sure I should come?" Kurt asked Blaine for the fifteenth time in an hour. He was sitting on the edge of their bed, legs crossed, and watching Blaine style his hair. A little over a month had passed since their huge string of fights and things had more or less returned to normal—and if not normal, they were better than before. Just because things were better, though, did not ease his nerves. Why was Kurt Hummel nervous? Because he was about to go to Westerville to meet David—and David's family. "I mean, I don't want to intrude. They may just want to see you."

"Don't be silly, Kurt." Blaine said cheerfully. Kurt saw him rolling his eyes in the mirror as he styled his hair—using half a bottle of gel, Kurt was pretty sure. "David already told his parents that you were coming too and his mother was _ecstatic_. You can't back out of it now."

"I'm not trying to back out. I know they're important to you and you hardly ever go see them. I don't want to take away from that time." Kurt said smoothly, but he was well aware Blaine could see through his act.

A grin spread across Blaine's face and he turned to face Kurt. " _You're nervous!_ "

"What? I am not." Kurt lied, voice coming out higher pitched than normal. Yes. Blaine definitely saw through his act. Not that he had any doubts. His boyfriend was just too smart. "Why would I be nervous?"

"Because meeting David and Wes' family is the equivalent of me meeting your family for the first time." Blaine tilted his head, still smiling brightly. "You're so adorable."

"You're completely wrong." Kurt scoffed. "I'm not nervous."

"I was nervous when I met your dad, you know that. And I was even more nervous the first time I saw him after we were officially dating… I was terrified. It's okay to be nervous, but I'm sure that they'll love you. His mom is very laid back. His dad is nice, but he can be a bit intimidating at times. He might not be there, though. Oh and Megan is nice. Well to me, not so much to David."

"Megan?"

"David's older sister. She's twenty three or twenty four now… I don't think she'd be there though, considering she's in grad school. But you don't need to be nervous. They're going to love you."

"What if they don't?"

"Not even a possibility." Blaine assured him, waving his hand. "Don't be nervous."

"Well what should I wear? Because they're really rich and—."

Blaine interrupted him before he could even finish his statement. "I'm wearing jeans and a cardigan. I don't think it matters what kind of money they have. Did you worry about what to wear at Dalton when you found out that I had money?"

"Well… no… but that was different. You're _you_. And by the time I knew just how rich you were, we had been dating for almost four months." Kurt answered, shrugging. Had he been shocked to find out how much Blaine was worth? Of course he had. But he hadn't fallen in love with Blaine for his money. In fact, he rarely even thought about it. Blaine was just Blaine, so there was no reason to act different. "But this is an entirely different situation. It's like I'm meeting your family. I don't know them already. It's kind of a lot of pressure."

"What you're wearing is perfect." Blaine said, standing. "Does my hair look good?"

"Yes." Kurt said, reaching up to smooth down that one curl that just never wanted to cooperate lately. "It always does."

Blaine's smile did not leave his face. "You miss last semester when I had school every day and was too tired to use gel, don't you?"

"You know I like your hair however you fix it." Kurt responded, his hand now resting at the nape of his neck.

"There is no use in denying that you love the curls, Kurt." Blaine teased. "This was established last year."

"While under the influence of about six painkillers and medications. Don't flatter yourself." Kurt teased right back, smiling. "But you're right. I do."

Blaine nodded and sighed a bit. "I'm kind of nervous myself to tell you the truth."

"What? Why?" Kurt asked, pulling back more to look at him. "You've been excited about this ever since you decided to go."

"No, I am excited to go and see them. I really am. I just... Well, I keep thinking about it. And you remember that I lived close to David? My parent's house is just a few houses down and we'll probably end up driving past it. I guess I hadn't thought about it before... and now I'm a little worried about it." Blaine admitted, sighing. "I shouldn't even have to worry about seeing my parents. It's dumb."

"You shouldn't have to. You're right. So don't." Kurt sighed as well and pulled him into a hug. "But they won't even know that you'll be in the area. They won't see you and they won't have an opportunity to say anything at all to you. I promise. I'll make sure of that."

"I know you will." Blaine nuzzled Kurt's shoulder a bit and sighed again softly. "I'm glad you're going with me. Thanks for putting school work on hold for the day."

Kurt smiled and kissed his ear. "You're welcome. I just worked a lot yesterday to make sure I wouldn't get behind... I want to meet them, I do. I'm a little nervous, but I would really like to meet them... I've just never exactly been in a house that has a maid. I bet their house is huge."

"Oh, most definitely." Blaine nodded, his head still burrowed in the crook of Kurt's shoulder. "You got taller."

"What?" Kurt asked.

"You got a little taller." The older boy mumbled, pulling away and frowning. "At least half an inch. Why are you doing this to me?"

Kurt laughed loudly. "Now that you mention it, I used to have to strain a bit more to put my chin on top of your head."

Blaine frowned. "I'm never going to get taller, am I?"

"I think you're perfect." Kurt laughed again. "I love how vertically challenged you are."

His boyfriend's frown turned into an outright pout. "One of these days you're going to call me vertically challenged and I'm going to ship that damn dog off to Peru."

Kreacher, who was lounged lazily on the foot of their bed, looked up and cocked his head to the side.

"Yes. You. You think you run the house, don't you? You think you've got everyone wrapped around your little paw. But not me. I don't think you're cute at all." Blaine said stubbornly, clearly deciding to take his anxiety out on their (for once) innocent dog.

"Oh God, not again." Kurt rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you that this house is a Democracy? All three of us have equal say."

"He's a _dog_. He can't have equal say if he can't _speak_!" Blaine exclaimed. "This entire house is absurd."

"It's the life you chose, Blaine." Kurt said sweetly, giving his boyfriend an almost adorable smile. "No regrets, just love."

"Don't you quote Katy Perry to me." Blaine scoffed, although he smiled. "I'm going to change clothes and then we'll leave. Can you text David and tell him we're on our way?"

"That sounds like something I might be able to handle." Kurt nodded and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You should wear the green cardigan, by the way."

"I planned on it, actually, seeing as it's your favorite and anytime I wear another one you make that face." Blaine said, making his way over to their closet and peering into it for several seconds before pulling out his favorite pair of jeans, a striped shirt, and Kurt's favorite green cardigan.

"Okay, Kreacher. Blaine and I are going bye-bye and you're going to go and get in your cage like a good boy." Kurt said, kneeling down.

Kreacher just turned his head in the opposite direction, uninterested.

"Kreacher..." Kurt said, trying to sound firm and failing. Failing miserably. "Kreacher, you have got to get in your cage. Whenever Blaine and I leave you out when you're alone, you eat Blaine's things and carry socks everywhere in the house. We still haven't found all of the socks from last weekend when we went to the Cheesecake Factory. I'm not taking no for an answer."

Blaine snorted loudly at this while Kreacher still refused to look in Kurt's direction. He should have found it annoying when Kurt talked to the dog like it was a real child, but it was kind of adorable. Not that he'd ever admit anything relating to the dog being adorable.

Blaine, smoothing down his shirt, put on a big grin and leaned down. "Kreacher want a treat? Does Kreacher want num nums? Does he?"

Kreacher immediately perked up, looking at Blaine and wagging his tail eagerly.

"You're awful." Kurt hissed.

"Awfully awesome." Blaine grinned and took off running towards the kitchen. "C'mon, Kreacher. We'll get some num nums!"

Kreacher leapt off the bed, stumbled, skidded a few times, straightened himself out, and then took off out of the bedroom. Kurt walked out of the room and into the kitchen, shaking his head. Blaine was leaned over again and handing Kreacher a treat. Kreacher eagerly ate it and then looked back up at Blaine with big, expectant eyes.

"You want another, you stupid thing?" Blaine cooed, getting another treat out of the bag. "Good, stupid boy. Here's another."

Kurt and Blaine were going to have to have another talk about Blaine calling Kreacher stupid apparently. Kreacher, unfazed, gobbled his next treat up before looking at Blaine, more excited than before.

Blaine tossed a treat into the cage. "Go get it, silly! I'm not just going to hand feed you everything for the rest of your life."

Kreacher hopped into the cage and had barely opened his mouth to grab the treat before Blaine shut the cage's door.

"Blaine! That's horrible!" Kurt exclaimed, eyes wide as Kreacher started to whimper and whine.

"And so much easier than you chasing him around the house and wrestling him into going into it himself." Blaine scoffed. "He basically went in on his own free will."

"But you tricked him." Kurt protested. "You know he gets excited when you talk to him. That is unethical. You are horrible."

"Okay. I'll let him out and you chase him around the entire house again. That sounds like a plan to me." Blaine leaned back over and moved to open the cage.

"No! No, no! That'd be silly. He's already in there!" Kurt said quickly as Kreacher let out several more whimpers, looking at them as if he were wounded.

"Fine. Fine, let's go." Blaine tossed another treat into the cage for Kreacher and grabbed his wallet off of the table. "Maybe I can talk Dana into making me french fries. Oh God, Kurt, her french fries are so good. She uses this seasoning stuff. She tried to show me how to do it but I'm hopeless."

"I know, sweetie." Kurt laughed, tugging his jacket on and then handing his older boyfriend his own. "I know. But you're not as bad as Finn, and for that you should be grateful."

* * *

"Blainers! Kurtsie!"

"Hello, David." Kurt smiled at David. Although Blaine now saw David very frequently, Kurt didn't see him too much and it was always nice to see David . Although with all he'd heard about David from Mercedes, you'd have thought David was Kurt's best friend. There were some things that he'd heard that he wondered if _Blaine_ even knew. Then again, they were close and surely Blaine did.

"Daviel!" Blaine waved energetically as he hopped out of the car.

"My name is not Daviel." David said, rolling his eyes.

"Nor is mine Blainers or Kurt's Kurtsie. I'd call Wes a stupid name if I could come up with one that was good enough, but his name doesn't leave me with a whole lot to work with." Blaine sighed as if this was a serious dilemma in his life, shaking his head and shutting the door.

"How's school going, Kurt?" David asked.

"Good. It's an entire school-free day today though. Blaine has forbidden me from even mentioning anything school related." Kurt informed him. "How about for you?"

"Pre med sucks. I wish Wes was here so he could help me with my chemistry homework." David shrugged. "It's not bad other than that."

"I'm taking Chem next year. And guess who will be in town to help _me_?" Blaine grinned.

"I hate you, Blaine. Turn around and go home." David joked. "We don't want you here."

"Is Wes good at chemistry?" Kurt asked curiously before Blaine could make a witty comeback. Maybe Kurt shouldn't have been shocked, though, considering the Asian boy had always gotten good grades at Dalton. He also went to UCLA, which Kurt knew had to be very difficult to manage. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even know what exactly Wes went to school for.

"Wes is a BioChem major." Blaine informed him. "He's going to be a biochemist. Whatever that is. So, yes, he's very good at Chemistry. We kind of hate him for it."

"He wants to work for the government." David added. "Because all we need is Wes in a position of power like that."

"Wow." Kurt said, eyes wide. "He must be really, really, really smart."

"He likes to think he is." Blaine snorted, prompting a nudge from David. "Alright. Dana is home now, right?"

"Of course." David nodded, moving towards the large house before them. It was a white three story house with large columns in the front, several beautiful windows, and a perfectly taken care of green lawn. The yard in itself was huge, but Kurt had definitely never been inside a house as big as David's. In fact, he didn't know if he'd even seen one in person. There weren't a whole lot of hugs houses in Lima and he only ever saw apartment buildings in Cincinnati. David's chattering broke Kurt's state of awe. "She's been cleaning non stop since Tuesday."

"Don't you mean making the maids clean?" Kurt asked, head tilting.

David looked thoughtful before shaking his head. "Usually she would but we don't have maids right now. Maria had to leave because her daughter's having another baby and I have no idea what happened to the other one."

"You don't know what happened to her? Did she quit?" Blaine asked, raising his eyebrow. He grasped Kurt's hand and followed David up the several marble steps.

"By saying I didn't know what happened to her, I meant I didn't know what happened to her. It wasn't that big of a loss those. She was kind of creepy." David laughed, pushing the large door open. "Kurt, watch your step when you come in. It's a really weird one… Mother dearest, your lost duckling is here!"

"I am not a duckling." Blaine scoffed, squeezing Kurt's hand after Kurt had made it safely up the step that dipped in the middle, almost throwing off Kurt's balance.

"At least I said lost and not ugly." David flashed Blaine a seemingly sweet smile.

"Blaine's here?" They heard a woman call from somewhere else.

"Yes, Blaine's here!" David called back loudly, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "This happens every time we have company. Just wait for it."

Kurt wasn't exactly sure what he was waiting for, but he stood silently and waited.

"Blaine's here?" Another voice, this time a man, asked. Blaine let out a loud snort.

"Yes, Dad. Blaine's here!" David called before looking at Blaine. "Doesn't this happen every time we have company?"

Kurt looked to Blaine, who nodded while still looking thoroughly amused. Although Kurt didn't quite get it yet.

"Honey, Blaine's here!" The man hollered.

"I can't hear you, but Blaine's here!" The woman shouted back.

_Ah_. So that was why it was funny.

"I tried disowning them but they've got too much money. They just had the order overturned." David said, mockingly massaging his temple. "This could continue for a while before they figure out what the other is saying. As usual. They're at complete opposite ends of the house. You guys hungry?"

"Starving!" Blaine said, dropping Kurt's hand and heading straight in the direction of the kitchen. Two seconds had passed before there was an excited shriek of Blaine's name.

"Apparently Mom made it to the kitchen." David laughed again and waved for Kurt to follow him, but moved very slowly giving them time to talk. "Was he okay coming here? He didn't say anything about coming so close to his parents, and I didn't want to bring it up, but..." David trailed off.

"He didn't say anything about it until this morning. I think he's a little nervous to be so close, but he's been really excited about seeing your parents." Kurt answered, hoping that his answer reassured David. He could tell David was worried about Blaine—which seemed to be the case often. "I think he's okay. He didn't say too much about it even when he mentioned it. Sometimes he just thinks things through too much."

"Yep." David said cheerfully, nodding. "That's definitely Blaine."

They made it into the kitchen and Kurt's mouth actually dropped. It was huge and absolutely gorgeous. He had never seen a kitchen quite like it-not even in the movies. Everything was much bigger and much shinier than necessary, but it still looked gorgeous. The walls were painted an orangeish-reddish color and the brown marble countertops seemed to match perfectly, although Kurt would have never thought they would. Kurt would have absolutely _loved_ to have a kitchen so big and so fancy. With two stoves, like David's house had. The baking he did at Christmas time before heading home would be so much easier and quicker. Okay, maybe there wasn't a reason for two gay young men to have two stoves, but who could blame him? The kitchen—okay, the whole house—was just _gorgeous_.

Finally Kurt focused on Blaine, who was being hugged tightly by a woman that could only be David's mother. The woman was older than Kurt thought she would be and looked very, very friendly. She kept talking quietly to Blaine and he mumbled back answers that no one else could hear as he nodded.

"Mom, don't suffocate him." David laughed. He looked at Kurt. "She may never let him leave. I hope you realize this."

The woman moved from Blaine and shook her head in David's direction before getting a big smile on her face. "You must be Kurt. I've heard so much about you, honey."

"Hello, Ms. Thompson It's very nice to meet you." Kurt said, smiling a bit nervously. This woman was probably the richest person he would ever meet. Her house was perfect, Blaine adored her, and she just looked so _nice_. What would happen if she didn't like him? Her opinion would matter a lot to Blaine, he was sure.

"You can call me Dana." The woman smiled even more and approached him. Kurt held his hand out for her to shake but instead she pulled him into a hug.

"Dana likes hugs." Blaine said cheerfully, already going through the fridge.

"Blaine!" Kurt laughed after Dana pulled away from the hug.

"Oh, he may as well be at home." Dana waved her hand. "If you'd like anything, help yourself. Blaine, I'm going to make you some french fries before you leave."

"Yes!" Blaine exclaimed as he pulled a Tupperware container out of the fridge. "I love this stuff! It's absolutely the best. Kurt, you have _got_ to try this."

"Already in the fridge, Blaine?" A tall man laughed, coming into the room. "Then again, I hear that David eats your food all the time so maybe we should be giving you some money."

"I don't know why Blaine says I eat them out of house and home. Kurt's brother eats just as much as I do." David scoffed. "Dad, this is Kurt."

The man shook Kurt's hand smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Kurt."

"You too, sir." Kurt smiled back as he shook his hand. The man looked a lot like David, only much taller. He looked kind like his wife, but Kurt could see how some people might find the man intimidating. After the man pulled away, Kurt watched him go hug Blaine, whose was stuffing his some food into his mouth.

"'Lo, Derek." Blaine said, voice muffled because his mouth was still full.

"He is such a boy." Dana shook her head, smiling. "You know, he wasn't bad at all until he started hanging out with David and Wes. I still haven't figured out which one is truly the bad influence because the two of them can be so alike."

"Clearly they're both equally bad influences." Derek joked. "Is school going well, Blaine?"

Blaine swallowed his food and nodded, going to stand by Kurt. "Yeah. I'm taking seven classes again. Next semester I just have to take six and then I'll be caught up enough to where I can only take five and still graduate on time."

"On time?" Kurt asked, eyebrow arching. Last he knew Blaine would have to go at least one extra semester if not two.

"Yeah." Blaine nodded, looking at him. "As if I hadn't had to take the semester off."

"Seven classes?" Dana gasped. "How do you sleep?"

Blaine shrugged. "I'm handling it fine. Kurt over here is the one that you should be talking to. He's taking a ridiculous amount of classes."

"What are you majoring in?" Dana asked eagerly.

"Fashion design." Kurt answered, well prepared for David's parent's shocked faces. He was surprised when they didn't appear shocked at all, but in a good way. He hated how people would look at him like he was dumb when he said he was going to CCAD for fashion design. Sometimes it was nice for someone to not comment negatively about it, especially when even his _grandfather_ made comments.

"Well that sounds like fun!" Dana said. "Wow! You must be good!"

"Kurt and I are both in the same boat." Blaine plopped down at the kitchen table. "Both with majors that have a 50/50 chance of getting us no where in life."

"True match made in heaven." David snorted. "You two better get into the swinging lifestyle. Blaine, find a hot doctor. Kurt, find someone who is already a hot lawyer. You all can just mooch off your new lovers and live happily ever after."

"First, ew." Blaine said, looking disgusted. "Second, it's going to be okay. If law school doesn't work out and Kurt doesn't make it big, we'll just live in a very fashionable box." Blaine smiled sweetly, and then added, "Which is a lot less immoral than becoming swingers just for money."

"You'd probably enjoy that." David laughed. "You'd find multiple boxes and make forts, wouldn't you?"

"The coolest forts _ever_." Blaine nodded. "Kurt could decorate them. And I could play guitar outside of our fort-box-home for money for food."

Kurt looked between the two boys. Why had he never thought of that? Not about living in a fort with Blaine—which was obviously never going to happen. It had never occurred to him that _both_ of them had chosen majors that were very likely to not prove useful. He had no doubt that Blaine could get into law school, but financially? Sure, he got quarterly payments. But those weren't near enough to pay for law school. Not only that, but... what if Kurt just didn't make it? What if, even with how talented he was, he never made it? What if he got a diploma saying he graduated from CCAD and that was it? Did he go back to a 'regular' college, like Finn? Did he work at his dad's garage for the rest of his life? What would Blaine do? What could he do with an English major? He wasn't aware of any jobs that paid you to read novels. Writing, maybe. But even five page essays would sometimes frustrate Blaine beyond belief. Kurt didn't see his boyfriend making a living out of anything that was strictly writing related.

What if all of Kurt's schooling was pointless? All of the stress? What if it got him no where?

But he was so good. He knew it, his professors knew it. But that knowledge wasn't enough to pay his bills. Or to help Blaine pay for law school because-because law school was expensive. How had this not occurred to him? Blaine had been working so hard for law school and the thought of him working that hard, getting into one, and having to turn one down because of money made Kurt sick to his stomach. Mainly because money would be no problem if Kurt hadn't come into his life. Had their relationship cost Blaine law school?

There were loans, he reminded himself. It might have been worth it to take out so many loans to get through law school, though, because lawyers made big money. Those loans would be paid off relatively quickly.

No. Kurt needed to not worry about that. Not quite yet, at least. Maybe he would ask Blaine about it later, though. Blaine was very smart. He was sure Blaine had a plan. Hearing Blaine's plans would probably ease his nerves… Unless Kurt had messed his entire plan up.

He felt Blaine's hand squeeze his and he smiled, squeezing back and trying to not let his thoughts run away with him.

"I'm sure both of them will be just fine." David's father was saying. "You, on the other hand, need better work ethic. I don't care how good your grades are, David. If you're not learning anything from the classes, how can you expect to get through medical school? The university stuff is just a basis for the important stuff."

"Yeah, David." Blaine said, mock sneering. "Get your act together."

"Don't even start, Anderson." David rolled his eyes. "Tell me one thing you remember from your Psych class last semester. Just one."

David's father, who Kurt knew was a therapist of some sort, waited eagerly for an answer.

"Uhm... Well... I know the difference between a dependent and independent variable?" Blaine said, but it came out as more than a question. "I think."

David's mother rolled her eyes. "You boys aren't challenged enough. You know, Derek, that Wes' mother told me that universities are easier than Dalton was? I think that's why this is happening."

"Just wait until you boys get into your upper level classes." David's father pointed between both David, who was still standing, and Blaine. "It will come back and haunt you. Just you wait."

"Speaking of Wesley," David grinned. "Our Asian friend has decided to transfer to a college in Ohio. In Columbus, I think?"

"Think so." Blaine nodded. "Because he told me that he was going to make daily trips to CCAD to torture Kurt over his lunch."

"Greeeat." Kurt laughed. "That's just what I need. Wes distracting me when I could be getting work done."

"Oh God. Wes' mother didn't tell me this!" David's mom exclaimed, joining Blaine and Kurt at the table. Her husband and David soon followed suite. "How could she not tell me this?"

"I don't think he's told them yet. He'll probably just show up with his bags." Blaine giggled.

"Oh, no." Dana looked at Blaine. " _You._ Blaine Wyatt Anderson, you had better not let your grades drop. Do you hear me? I'm well aware that you and Wes like to drink and act a fool, but you're in college now. Your professors won't be as swayed by that adorable little smile as the teachers at Dalton were."

"And if you happen to get drunk and angry, for the love of God, do not get yourself arrested again." Derek added. " _Please_."

"Can't I drink without getting myself into trouble?" Blaine asked, looking around the room.

"No." Everyone, Kurt included, said at once. He still hadn't forgotten the Rachel Berry incident. He doubted he ever would.

"Oh, Kurt, you don't know the half of it." Dana exclaimed, leaning over to be closer to him. "He's horrible when he drinks."

"I've had to deal with it. Once." Kurt nodded in agreement. "It was awful."

"That was nothing, Kurt." David said, shaking his head. "Nothing. You can't say you've seen him drunk until you've seen him drink with Wes."

"And he gets an _awful_ temper." David's father added.

"I haven't gotten _that_ drunk since I was fifteen." Blaine protested. "I'm almost twenty now. You can't bring that up anymore. It's been five years."

David grinned. "He can be a funny drunk though. He likes to serenade guys when he's drunk."

"Yep. Know about that too." Kurt grinned.

"Hey! You promised!" Blaine exclaimed, turning to face him.

"Do tell." David said eagerly. "I need another Drunk Blaine story to add to the collection. What happened after this New Directions party, Kurt? Did he serenade you with _Do You Think I'm Sexy_ like he did Thad?"

Blaine very quickly shook his head, praying Kurt wouldn't tell, as everyone else laughed.

"I promised not to tell." Kurt said, almost regretfully. He would have loved to have told someone about Blaine's rendition of _The Man I Love_ if only to have someone else laugh about it with him. But a promise was a promise. Sure, he'd only promised not to tell David and Wes, but nobody else would have found it as amusing as those two.

"It'll come out soon enough." Dana waved her hand.

"I've got to get to work." Derek stood up and shook Kurt's hand. "It was very nice to meet you, Kurt. Don't let Blaine get away with too much when Wesley gets here, alright?"

"Don't worry about that, Dad." David rolled his eyes. "Blaine's whipped. What Kurt says goes and Kurt doesn't like Blaine drinking."

"It was nice to meet you too." Kurt smiled as Blaine rolled his eyes, mumbling about how he was not whipped.

Derek moved to hug Blaine. "You make sure that you take care of yourself and keep doing good in school, okay? I expect this time in two years you'll be calling to tell us about what law schools you're applying to."

Blaine laughed and hugged him back. "Of course. It was good to see you, Derek."

"You too." David's father kissed his wife's cheek, said another goodbye, and left the house.

"He called the office and said he was going to be late to get to see you, Blaine." Dana said as soon as the door closed.

"He didn't have to do that!" Blaine said, looking shocked.

"Of course he did! We haven't seen you in... Gosh, it'd be two years come May." she exclaimed. She looked at Kurt. "You know, he used to stay with us off and on. We just loved having him around. David and Megan, David's older sister, are obnoxious. But Blaine was always a sweetheart."

"Only around adults and Kurt." David snorted, nudging Blaine. "Wes and I are going to videotape him when Wes comes back. We're going to show every adult and Kurt who Blaine truly is."

"I think I'd notice if you were videotaping me, David." Blaine said.

"I don't know. If Wes can hack into government information via Google, I'm pretty sure he can do anything." David's mother sighed. "That boy is too smart for his own good. But, you know, he spent three semesters at UCLA goofing off. His mother says he's making good grades but... I don't know about you, Wes, and your partying. I would almost feel sorry for David if he hadn't been such a rotten child."

"David was bad?" Kurt asked curiously.

"Not _bad_. Just very mischievous." she laughed.

"In other words, bad." Blaine added.

"It was only when he didn't get his way... and Megan would set him off a lot. I have to give him that. I was so shocked when he became friends with quiet Blaine Anderson. And look what they did to him."

"That's the general consensus." Blaine said cheerfully to Kurt, looking extremely happy. It made Kurt feel good to see Blaine so happy. "Wes' mom says the same thing. But I'm not that bad."

"Of course not." she shook her head and patted his free hand. "He's like family to all of us, Kurt. So I hope you're taking good care of him. We all care about him a lot."

"I don't need taking care of." Blaine shrugged. "I'm doing fine. I'm doing well in school, I've got two jobs between and before classes, I get enough to eat, and I get exercise so I don't get fat from eating too much."

"Are you happy?" she asked, looking at him in a concerned way. Kurt could tell that this woman was like a fill in mother for him. He could clearly see that this was part of Blaine's family, part of his support system. Blaine _did_ have other people that cared for him. Other people, Kurt was now convinced, that Blaine needed to see more often.

Blaine looked thoughtful for a few seconds before smiling a bit. "Yeah... My parents don't bother me at all anymore." he glanced at Kurt. "Last year was a little hard... but that's over and... sure, I'm stressed some. But I think that anyone who is 19 and living away from home while managing school and work and a relationship feels stressed, you know? I'm happy where I'm at... Things are better and... and I hope they keep getting better."

She stood up and went to hug him. "I'm glad. You stay holed up in that apartment too much. You should come down some weekends and stay with us. Kurt, you're more than welcome to come too. And I know Wes' mother misses you too. We want to see you grow up, Blaine."

"I am a grown up." Blaine's voice was muffled by her shoulder.

"Oh no, not quite yet." she laughed. "I'll never see you as a grown up until you lose those adorable cheeks."

"Oh God." Blaine moaned, blushing as Kurt and David laughed loudly. "That will be never."

"There's always Lipo." David exclaimed.

"Don't you dare!" Kurt gasped. "He is just fine, thank you very much. I happen to think he's adorable how he is."

"Yes, he is." David's mother cooed, giving him a big squeeze. "Kurt, I want you to promise that you'll make him come see us, okay?"

"I'll try my best... I think it would be good for him to see you all a lot more." Kurt said, nodding. That was something he would definitely be talking to Blaine about. Kurt's family was great, but Blaine needed more support than just Kurt's family. Especially when he obviously had such a strong bond with David's family-and probably Wes' too.

"Alright. I'm going to go and show Blaine that program, momma." David said, standing up. "I'll bring Blaine and your new gay friend back shortly for some more chit chat."

"Don't you _dare_ let Blaine leave before I see him again." she said, pointing at her son.

"Okay, okay, okay." David sighed and gestured for Kurt and Blaine to stand. "C'mon, guys. This is the neatest thing ever. Blaine, you're going to die."

* * *

"We don't have to do this, you know?" Kurt whispered several hours later as they climbed into Blaine's car. "There's got to be a way to get out of this neighborhood without driving past your house."

Blaine turned the heat up, rubbing his hands together as he waited for the car to warm up a bit. He spoke in a falsely cheery voice. "It's just a house, Kurt."

"If it's _just a house_ , you wouldn't have that look on your face that you're trying to hide." Kurt said softly, putting his hand over Blaine's, effectively stopping their movement. "You don't have to see it. Here, I'll just back into the driveway and we'll go out the way we came."

"I… I want to see it." Blaine said slowly. "I just…" he closed his eyes and shrugged. "I kind of want to see it."

Kurt swallowed, watching him carefully and not sure what to say. It wasn't often that stuff concerning Blaine's parents came up. Typically it was a topic that was avoided—and it most certainly had been avoided since their argument. It was hard for Kurt to know what to say to Blaine because his own father had always supported him in everything. He didn't know the type of pain Blaine felt, didn't know the right words to say to make it better. But he had a feeling that seeing his old house would only make things harder for Blaine.

Blaine's face, which had been so happy not even five minutes before, fell. He frowned, his brow furrowed, and he smacked the side of his steering wheel out of frustration. "It's supposed to be my house. I've still got stuff in there that I'll never even get to see again. If they didn't throw it away, that is. I've still got clothes in there. I've got pictures in there, gifts from friends in there, music, two guitars, my piano, my first license plate that I had to beg the mechanic to let me keep. And I'll never see any of it again. None of it."

"I…" Kurt paused. "I don't know what to say."

"There is probably so much stuff in there that I haven't even remembered yet… It _sucks_. What they're doing to me _sucks_. And it makes me angry. They are supposed to be my family and that house is supposed to be my home. _They're_ supposed to take care of me. I should be coming home to see my family today, not David's. I should spend my lunch breaks every day talking to my own mother, not Carole." Blaine said angrily, glaring out the window. "I just don't understand what I've done that is so wrong!"

Kurt reached over bringing both of Blaine's hands down and squeezing them between his own. "I love you."

"I know that." Blaine said miserably. "I just don't know why love has to cost me my family."

Kurt opened his own hands and kissed the back of Blaine's. He wished he had answers for Blaine. He at least wished he knew what to say to make him feel better. But he just didn't. "I don't know, Blaine… I don't know."

"It's just not fair. I… I can't change myself, Kurt. It's not like I can just hit an off switch a-and not feel the way I feel about you. And I wouldn't _want_ to." There it was. The hitch in his voice. He was getting emotional. Blaine was about to cry. Kurt didn't want him to cry because he absolutely hated seeing Blaine so broken down and upset.

"I know, babe." Kurt scooted closer, wishing they weren't in the front seat of his car. It made it harder to comfort him. "I know."

Blaine removed his hands from Kurt's and shook his head. "You would never sit in a car, five houses down from a house, and do this. You've always handled everything with such dignity. You take on too much and you still somehow manage to do _everything_ perfectly, Kurt. If the roles were reversed, if you were me, you wouldn't care what they thought. You wouldn't want to cry, you wouldn't have thought to yourself so many times over the last 8 years, 'What if I hadn't come out?' Because you're stronger than that. Because you love yourself and you are yourself and you just don't care what anyone else thinks. B-But I can't _do_ that, Kurt."

"You're giving me way too much credit that isn't deserved. I didn't come out until I was sixteen." Kurt whispered. "I held it in that long before I told anyone. And I didn't even tell my dad first."

Blaine let out a shaky sigh and looked at him, looking broken. "Really?"

"I didn't know how to accept myself for a very long time." Kurt admitted, looking down. "I mean, Taylor…" he took a deep breath. "Taylor asked me if I was gay when I was thirteen and I… well, she knew… but I didn't tell anyone else until I was sixteen. And I told Mercedes first after that… But, Blaine… I was _terrified_ to lose my dad. He just… He was all I had and I was so afraid to lose him. I didn't know how he would react… So I held it in for years and years… I'm so sorry that the thing I feared most happened to you, Blaine, and I'm so sorry that you were so young. But you are so much braver than me."

Blaine let out a sarcastic laugh. "No, I'm not. I'm not at all, Kurt."

"Do you honestly think I don't care what people think when people give us nasty looks when we're grocery shopping? Do you think it doesn't upset me? Do you think that if I lost my family that I wouldn't act _just_ like you? _You're hurting, Blaine_. Being upset and wishing things were different does not make you weak. At least you didn't take years to accept yourself. At least you didn't tell people that you weren't gay."

"You've dealt with much worse." Blaine protested.

"No, I haven't." Kurt said, voice rising. He wasn't angry. He just wanted Blaine to understand. "Since the age of twelve you've had people constantly telling you that you were wrong and disgusting. You were just a little kid! Your parents didn't only reject you; they sent you away and hid you like you were something to be ashamed of! People hurt you and bullied you! In the grand scheme of things, last fall and Karofsky don't even matter. And, to be honest, I didn't handle either of those things perfectly, okay? I ran away to Dalton, and sometimes I still get upset over last fall. I just don't say anything because nothing I can do will ever change it. So don't say that I've dealt with worse, Blaine, or that I've handled anything better. It's completely different situations, for one. And second, you're much braver than me because you put up with your family's hatred for _years and years_. My attack lasted fifteen minutes."

Blaine stared out the windshield, barely blinking.

"It's okay to still be hurting, Blaine. It's okay to still be upset and to hate them... _I_ hate them for what they did to you." Kurt whispered, taking his hand again. "Do you know what I realized today?"

"What?" Blaine mumbled.

"That you _do_ have a family… David's family cares about you so much, Blaine. His dad went in to work late just to see you. His mom almost cried when you left. They miss you, Blaine. They _love_ you. And I'd be willing to bet money that Wes' family is the exact same way, aren't they?"

"They're not my family though. They're their family." Blaine protested.

"You say I'm your family." Kurt scooted closer, leaning to kiss his cheek. His voice was barely about a whisper. "How is it any different?"

"We're dating. It's different."

"But we're not related by blood."

"But we love each other." Blaine muttered, looking down.

"They love you too. Not in the same way, but they love you too. You don't have to be related to someone to be their family. You've got more people that care for you than you think… and that makes you very, very lucky."

Blaine's face screwed up but he took several deep breaths to stop himself from crying. He refused to get _that_ upset.

"I know you and Dad aren't talking… but you've still got my family too. Dad included." Kurt continued. "I know Dad was a complete idiot, but sometimes… sometimes even family members act like complete idiots. And I bet if you two made up, things would go right back to normal."

"I don't even want to be around him." Blaine said, voice thick.

"Right now I don't either." Kurt agreed. "But he's still my family. And I know he considers you a part of the family… and just look at how close you and Carole are. Last fall you always ate breakfast with her before she went to work. Then, once classes started, you'd talk to her on the phone. You just said yourself that you talked to her every day when you ate lunch. Isn't that true?"

"Yes." Blaine wiped his teary eyes.

"You two are so close. Carole and I talk a fair amount, but you and Carole are so much closer than Carole and I. Dad calls you Carole's baby for a reason. She really loves you. And I know you care for her a lot too, Blaine."

"I don't want your family, or Wes', or David's. I want _my family_! I hate feeling like some lost stray puppy all of the time who everyone just takes care of or likes because they feel bad for it!" Blaine's face crumbled and he covered his mouth, letting out a muffled and choked sob. Kurt rushed out of the car and around to the driver's seat, pulling it open and wrapping his arms around Blaine in a proper hug.

"I know you're hurting." Kurt whispered, rocking him and kissing his face. His stomach was twisted in all sorts of knots as he tried to comfort his boyfriend. He was really hoping it wouldn't get to the point of Blaine crying. "Blaine, I know it's hard… I know…"

"I don't know what I could have done." Blaine sobbed into Kurt's chest. "I j-just don't know what I could have done, Kurt!"

"I love you so much. I love you so much." Kurt whispered repeatedly in her ear as he rocked him. Blaine's hand began fumbling, trying to grab Kurt's jacket, but Kurt grasped it and squeezed hard. "I love you so much."

"I l-love you too." Blaine cried, squeezing his hand back so hard that it was almost painful.

"Shh, shh." Kurt cooed, rocking him slowly. "It's okay, Blaine… It's okay… I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Blaine's shoulders shook more, his grip on Kurt's hand tightening even more as if he were trying to make sure Kurt was indeed physically there. It broke Kurt's heart. He hated seeing Blaine like this. He hated knowing the people that had caused Blaine this pain were only five houses down. Kurt would have paid money to burst into that house, to tell them just how cruel they were, to tell them where exactly they could shove their fucked up views, and tell them exactly how wrong they were about their son. All he could do, though, was hug Blaine, shush him, and try to comfort him.

It seemed to take ages for Blaine's sobs to subside. Kurt stood still, not caring that it was snowing, that he was standing outside hunched over in a car, and that he was freezing. All that mattered was Blaine getting this out of his system so it didn't bottle up inside and get worse. He just wanted Blaine to feel better, to feel happier.

Finally Blaine's sobs turned into cries which turned into hiccups and then quiet sniffles. He didn't dare loosen his grip on Blaine until the older boy pulled away, eyes puffy and red, cheeks tearstained.

"I-I'm sorry." he sniffled, letting his grip on Kurt's hand loosen. "I d-don't know w-why I can't go s-six months without d-doing this."

"Shh." Kurt shushed him. "Don't apologize. You have _nothing_ to apologize for, Blaine. Nothing."

"I don't want to s-see the house. I-I'll just b-back up and go the other way."

"No." Kurt shook his head.

"Kurt, I _can't_." Blaine squeaked.

"I mean, no. You're not driving. I'm going to drive us home." Kurt whispered, kissing his forehead. "So whenever you're ready to leave, I'm driving."

Blaine nodded and his lip began to tremble again.

"No, Blaine, no." Kurt cooed, wrapping him in another hug. "It's okay. I promise, you're okay."

"I don't know what I'd do without you." Blaine choked out. "P-Please don't ever leave me, Kurt."

"I'm not going anywhere, honey." Kurt whispered, pressing a kiss to his lips. "I promise. I'm not going anywhere."

Blaine nodded, just gripping his hand tightly again.

* * *

Blaine had fallen asleep just as Kurt made it onto the highway, curled up with his feet tucked underneath him. He slept the entire way, very softly snoring and occasionally sniffling in his sleep. He only woke up long enough to make it to bed as soon as they got home. When inside, he conked out before his head even hit the pillow.

Kurt had barley made it out of the bedroom when his cell phone rang. Kurt fumbled to answer it as quickly as possible so it wouldn't wake his sleeping boyfriend. "Hello?"

"Is he okay? You guys were sitting out there forever. I was going to come out there and check but I didn't want to intrude." David said without preamble. "Is he okay? It's about his parents, isn't it? I knew it was a bad idea to invite him out here."

Kurt quietly shut the bedroom door and walked into the kitchen to pour himself some milk. "What's your definition of okay?"

"Shit." David sighed. "He seemed just fine when he was here, though."

"I know… It seems like this just happens every so often…" Kurt sighed as he put the cup in the microwave. "It hasn't happened since we moved into the apartment. He's pretty upset. He cried himself to sleep on the way home."

"I'll call him tomorrow and talk to him, and apologize." David said quietly. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I was hoping he'd be fine with being in the neighborhood."

"It's not your fault, David. You don't have anything to apologize for. It was something about passing the house on the way out." Kurt said. "That's why I think it happened then… I told him I'd just back out and we could go the way we came but…"

"But he was already too upset for it to matter." David sighed. "Is he awake? Can I talk to him now?"

"He crawled right into bed and fell back asleep." Kurt answered, taking a drink of his now warm milk. "He'll probably feel better when he wakes up. That's how he always is when he's worked up about something. Try not to worry about it. He'll be just fine."

"Okay. I'm going to get off here and call Wes, and warn him just incase Blaine happens to call him before I get a chance to talk to Blaine. If anything happens, you'll call me right?"

"Of course, David." Kurt said, smiling a bit. He remembered Blaine stating how David had stood up to Blaine's father. He always took care of Blaine. Clearly he was very protective of the shorter boy. "Thanks for having us over again."

"Anytime, Kurt. Have a good night."

"You too, David. Bye." Kurt snapped his phone shut and, after letting Kreacher out to potty, went towards the bedroom. "Now, Kreacher, you need to stay on the edge of the bed tonight. Blaine needs to be cuddled and you'll just get in the way."

Kreacher, still mad at how he had been treated earlier, gave Kurt a look but did as told when they made it to the bedroom, hopping onto the bed and making himself comfortable at the foot of it. Blaine was awake, staring at the ceiling. His eyes were still fairly red rimmed.

"Hey, you want something to drink? Or eat?" Kurt whispered, going to his side of the bed and leaning over him.

"'M fine." Blaine whispered, moving his head to look at Kurt. "Was that David calling?"

"It woke you up. I'm sorry." Kurt frowned. "But yes, it was."

"He saw us. I knew he would. He was probably looking to make sure the car started and I started blubbering."

"You weren't blubbering." Kurt said soothingly, moving and getting into bed next to him. "Want to snuggle?"

Blaine's only response was to curl up with Kurt, getting into his arms and nuzzling his chest. "I like it here."

"I like you there too." Kurt smiled a bit and gave Blaine a squeeze. "Are you doing okay, baby?"

"Yes and no." Blaine sighed a bit. "I'll feel better tomorrow… At least, I hope I will."

"I'm sorry you're hurting." Kurt whispered, running his fingers up and down Blaine's back through his striped t-shirt (Kurt had only tugged off the cardigan and Blaine's jeans before getting him into bed).

Blaine curled into him slightly. "I would rather have you over them anyway."

Kurt just tugged him closer while whispering, "I love you so much."

* * *

Every time that Blaine would have a breakdown about his family, there were a few things that were guaranteed. Blaine would stick close by Kurt's side, as if by some magnetic force. No matter what Kurt was doing, Blaine would be close by with his head on Kurt's shoulder or his hand on Kurt's knee. Just close enough to touch him, to know that Kurt was still there. Blaine was never one to be clingy, but he definitely craved being close to Kurt after any episode involving his parents happened. He liked to be reassured.

The next few days were uneventful really, but Kurt tried to spend as much time with Blaine as humanly possible just for the sheer fact that it offered some comfort to the boy. When he didn't _have to_ be working on school work, he made sure to comfort him as much as was possible.

While Blaine seemed to returned to his chipper self after the fourth day, Kurt wanted to make sure that he knew Kurt was and would always be there for him. If that meant staying up even later some nights to get work done, then so be it. He was used to staying up late anyway and Blaine was more than worth it.

"I still want a kitten." Blaine randomly chirped from the loveseat the fourth day as he read his English novel and Kurt worked on his latest sketch—one that _finally_ required the use of his tablet.

Kurt looked up from the tablet. "No way."

"No way?" Blaine asked, looking up from his book also. "Why not? I bought you a puppy. An evil puppy."

"And I am eternally grateful, Blaine, but we can't get a cat right now. Besides, cats are mean."

"Only when you're mean to them." Blaine protested, moving to join Kurt on the couch. He would have joined him initially, but he had fallen asleep before Kurt had made it home from classes on the love seat and had began to read as soon as he'd woken up. "Come on. I already told you I'd go to that dumb Lady Gaga concert with you and we both know how I feel about Lady Gaga."

"Gaga is fabulous." Kurt said, retuning his attention to his table. Did he know he was going to have to _eventually_ let Blaine adopt some small, furry animal? Yes. Did he know it would probably be a cat, as Blaine had admitted he'd always wanted a 'fat cat to curl up and read with?' Yes. Did that day have to be today? Not if he could help it. Two young men and one crazy dog was just about all their tiny apartment could handle.

"Potato, Pah-tot-oh." Blaine waved his hand in the air. "C'mon, Kurt. I'm prepared to pull out my guitar and make songs about wanting a cat until you agree."

"We have a hard enough time making sure Kreacher doesn't stink up the apartment. You can't want to bring a cat in too. The apartment will smell like a zoo." Kurt said.

"What if we get a bigger apartment?"

"We don't need a bigger apartment."

"Yes we do. We've both taken over one another's closets. Face it. Two gay guys in an apartment with two tiny closets do not mesh. Maybe we can get a two bedroom one and lock Kreacher in the second one."

"Blaine…" Kurt laughed and set his tablet down, scooting closer to his boyfriend. He gently prodded his stomach. "You're so distracting. This is why I used to stay after school every night."

"Well if you let me get a kitten, I'll have a new friend to play with." Blaine smiled at him adorably and rested his head on Kurt's shoulder. " _Pleaaaase_."

"Honestly?" Kurt asked.

"Uh huh." Blaine stuck out his lower lip in an adorable pout. "I would like a kitten friend."

"Would you settle for a hamster?" Kurt questioned. Maybe Kurt could turn this around. Maybe, just maybe, it would work in a way that was more to Kurt's advantage.

"Nope." Blaine shook his head. "I _might_ settle for a sugar glider, though."

" _Settle_? That's an exotic animal!" Kurt's eyes widened. "Are you insane? A sugar glider in this apartment?

"A cute and tiny exotic animal!" Blaine corrected. "It would fit right in with me—after all, you always say I'm cute and tiny."

Well Kurt would certainly never be saying that again if it was going to be hed against him. He rolled his eyes. "What about a hedge hog?"

"Nah. I've moved on to bigger and better things. Maybe a fuzzy bunny? With floppy ears?"

"Oh God." Kurt moaned, covering his face. "You're really going to sit here until I agree to a new pet, Blaine. You realize we're not even technically allowed to have Kreacher here, right?"

"When I get my next quarterly payment, I'll take you _shoppppping_."

"Don't you dare bring that money into this!" Kurt laughed. "You're a cruel and sick individual, Blaine Anderson."

"I take pride in that fact." Blaine said cheerfully. "You know, I'm pretty sure you promised me a cat once."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "No. I'm pretty sure that I did not because I do not like cats."

"I'll make it worth your while." Blaine said, sitting up and smirking.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Kurt yelped as Blaine crawled onto his lap.

"Nothing." Blaine said, leaning down to kiss him.

"Mmh, you're very persuasive." Kurt smirked as well, resting his hands on Blaine's thin waist.

"I've been told that once or twice." Blaine mumbled before pressing their lips together.

"I can't believe you're doing this." Kurt giggled into the kiss, tugging him closer.

"It's because you taste so yummy." Blaine said, kissing down his neck.

"Don't get too excited. I don't think I've fully recovered from last night." Kurt teased, tilting his head.

Blaine just giggled into his skin in an absolutely adorable way. "Kitten?"

"Mmh, not quite convinced yet."

"No?" Blaine asked, fingers moving to unbutton the first few buttons of Kurt's long sleeved purple shirt. "How about now?"

"Maybe I'll be more easily persuaded if you're shirtless too?" Kurt asked in an innocent voice as Blaine tugged his own shirt off—finally. "Although I really like that shirt on you, I think I like you better shirtless."

"That can be arranged." Blaine said, yanking his sweater off eagerly. "Now?"

"I will agree to a kitten—."

" _Yes_!"

" _If_ we get it after school is out." Kurt finished.

"It's mid March. That's only two months away! I can really get a kitten?"

"Only because I love you and you asked so nicely." Kurt pulled him down for another kiss as the doorbell rang.

"Ignore it. It's probably some bible carrying weirdo again." Blaine said, bending to kiss his collar bone. "I swear the lady across the hall sends them over here because we're gay. I still think we should give them a show the next time they come."

"I'm not going to make out with you in front of Jehovah's Witnesses, Blaine. You're even the one went to church." Kurt said, kissing him again as the door bell rang a second time. "Oh my God. Can't they take a hint?"

Blaine rolled off of Kurt and tugged his shirt on, scowling. "Apparently God only wants me to get laid once a week, sometimes not even that much."

Kurt buttoned his shirt up and opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw his father. "Dad?"

"Hey, kid." Burt said, shuffling anxiously. "Can I come in?"

Kurt glanced at Blaine, who was now very quickly straightening his shirt. "I guess, Dad, but what are you doing here? No offense, but I haven't been coming to Lima for a reason."

"Look, Kurt, I understand why you're upset with me. I understand why Blaine is upset with me. But this isn't _your_ fight to fight." Burt said, eyeing him. "I want to talk…" he trailed off and looked at Blaine. "Do you mind it we talk, Blaine?"

"Dad, no." Kurt sighed. "He doesn't want to talk to you."

Burt ignored Kurt's statement. "Why don't you go in the kitchen so I can talk to him, okay?"

"No." Kurt shook his head. "That's not happening."

"It's fine, Kurt." Blaine said quietly. What could possibly happen with Kurt in the next room? Blaine didn't see a flame thrower in his arms and he was tiny. Surely if Burt came at him, he could run past him.

"If you start anything again, Dad, I'm not talking to you for three months." Kurt threatened before stalking out of the room.

Blaine looked down at the floor awkwardly, not wanting to look at Burt who had his hands in his pockets.

"Look, Blaine…" Burt began after several seconds, sighing heavily. "I never should have… come up here and accused you of… well, you know. And I regret it. I don't like that you two never come over any more. I know it's my own doing."

Blaine did not speak. He looked up, but made sure to not look in Burt's direction.

"I jumped to conclusions. Kurt came home sobbing in the middle of the night, wouldn't say anything, would only eat when Carole forced him to. He wouldn't even play with Melody. It _scared_ me. The only thing he said was that he said some bad things—which I do not agree with at _all_ — and that you called him an idiot. In my mind, in that moment, I thought…" Burt trailed off. "I never expected that out of you. When Kurt was still sick and he'd be a brat, you just let him do it and waited for him to cool off. I get it. Things are different now. For _you_. Not for me. The day after the trial, he moved out with _you_. I see him once a week, but I don't live with him. I don't get to see the day to day fits you all have, I don't see if he's just putting on a happy face because he's at home and doesn't want me to worry. I'm protective of him. Can you blame me?"

"Yes." Blaine said very simply, unable to stop himself. "Yes, I can blame you for driving all the way to Cincinnati from Lima to tell me that _I_ haven't taken good care of Kurt. _I_ have taken excellent care of Kurt ever since last fall. _I_ was the one who got up in the middle of the night. _I_ stayed every night in the hospital—many more nights than you, because you had work. _I_ took him to doctor's appointments, _I_ fed him, _I_ held him when he had nightmares, _I_ made sure he took his medicine even though he absolutely hated taking it and I hated making him. Yes, I can blame you for telling me that _I_ didn't take care of Kurt."

"I helped as much as I could." Burt protested. "I helped a lot."

"I'm not saying you didn't. I'm just saying I did. I don't appreciate you throwing that out the window as if it never happened. Because it was _hard_. But I did it because I _love_ him. And I try my hardest to take care of him. I try to make sure he gets some sleep, even if it's just a nap. I try to make sure he eats too. I take care of him."

"You do. That's why I was wrong to say that." Burt said very calmly. "I think that you take very good care of him. I just don't think you showed Kurt a whole lot of respect throughout that entire fight."

"We _both_ said things. We _both_ did things. I feel terrible about the things I've said and I have apologized to Kurt on more than one occasion since then." Blaine said very slowly. "We both could have treated _each other_ with a lot more respect. But that is for _us_ to decide and not you. The facts are that I disrespected Kurt and he disrespected me. I find it incredibly unfair that you're using that against me—especially when the fight had nothing to do with you. Because it didn't have anything to do with you."

"It had something to do with me the minute he showed up at my house, Blaine." Burt argued. "How was I supposed to react?"

"You weren't supposed to think that I would _ever_ hurt him like that. Why were you so quick to w-write me off like that? After everything I've done for Kurt?" Blaine asked, looking hurt. He could feel himself becoming emotional again—just like he did whenever he _really_ thought about it. It still made him sick to his stomach that anyone could think he'd do— _that stuff_. "I put my whole life on hold for six months for him. I would do _anything_ for him. You're the one who let me stay at your house. You're the one who went to Finn's football games with me almost every Saturday last football season. You should know me better than that. H-How could you think I'd ever lay a hand on Kurt?"

The last part came out sounding broken. Even Burt had to look away. "I'm sorry."

Blaine let out a hollow sort of laugh. "Right. Because that just makes it all go away. Sorry makes everything better, doesn't it? Or wait. For you, forcing Kurt to leave me makes everything better. I don't even understand how you think you possibly have any control over who Kurt does or does not date."

"I was worried about my son." Burt said gruffly as Kurt walked in, looking between the two.

" _Fine_. Worry about him. Don't try to control him. Don't always let him run to you with everything. How is he—how are _we_ —supposed to handle stuff on our own if you're always in the way? Always there to make things right? We're _supposed_ to make mistakes, okay? He's supposed to do stupid shit and have to figure out how to get himself out of it. You can't hold his hand forever. At some point you have to accept that fact that he's an adult who is capable of making his own decisions, as well as his own mistakes. You have done a good job _raising_ him. Now it's time to let him take over."

"He's too young. He's still learning." Burt protested.

Kurt, who had quietly been listening for the last few minutes from the doorway, stepped into the room and didn't stop until he reached Blaine. "Dad, Blaine's right. I'm nineteen. In August I'll be twenty… It's probably—no, it _is_ time that I start dealing with stuff myself, I think."

"Nineteen is not old enough to be completely on your own."

"I'm not alone." Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and squeezed it firmly. "You just said you trusted him to take care of me and that he does take good care of me. He's taken care of me for a long time… I'm still going to _need_ you for things… but there are some things that I need to figure out for myself, right? I don't want to have to go to you with almost everything for the rest of my life… It doesn't mean you're losing me or anything, though. It just means I'll have to try a little harder with things, but that's good. You should want that for me. You should want me to be at a point where I can live on my own and not have to run to you for money or help over anything, right?"

"I suppose." Burt said gruffly, rubbing his temple. "Look, I get it. I know what I did was wrong. And Blaine, maybe I don't give you enough credit for everything that you've done for Kurt. I'm sorry for that. For both things. You've done a lot of my son. You're right. You're there for him one hundred percent. Kurt's… Kurt's very lucky to have someone like you."

"I don't know what you want me to say. I'm appreciative that you came here to say all of that." Blaine took a deep breath. "But I'm not ready to just… act like it never happened. But no matter what I say to you, it's a lose-lose situation for me."

"Why's that?"

"If I say how I truly feel, I'm not being a team player. If I say how I truly feel, everybody else gets upset. I'm supposed to just say 'it's okay' because you're Kurt's dad. Otherwise I look like the bad person who can't accept something and move on."

"I upset you, kid. You don't have to accept my apology until you're ready." Burt sighed.

"You say that, but that's not what you mean. If I don't, you and everyone else are going to judge me for the rest of my life."

"That's a bit dramatic." Burt joked, before speaking in a more serious tone of voice. "I'm not going to judge you. I don't think anyone would. Because you've got every right to be pissed. I never should have gotten so involved in Kurt's life. I never should have said that stuff to you and I deserved everything you said to me that day. You shouldn't accept my apology until you're ready to accept it. But when you are, you just let me know. Because I think everyone would like things to go back to normal. Carole misses seeing you at least once a week. I know you talk every day, but it's not the same to her."

That was one thing he hated about the fight. He did miss seeing Carole every Friday. Burt was right, and Kurt had mentioned it before. They did talk on the phone every day. Blaine felt closer to her than he'd ever felt to David and Wes' moms. He knew Carole genuinely enjoyed hearing from him and hearing about his day and that was nice. Because he was just her stepson's boyfriend. She didn't have to do that, make him feel welcome, but she did. It was nice to feel a kind of bond like that. Kurt was right when he said that Blaine cared for her.

"I'm going to head back to Lima." Burt sighed after Blaine's lack of response. He put his hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Listen, kid. I'm sorry. I can't say enough how sorry I am for belittling everything you've done and for accusing you of harming Kurt. I'm sorry for all of it and I want to make this right eventually… I wasn't lying in the hospital when I told you that you were a part of this family. And you still are, even if you hate my guts right now. When you're ready to work on it, let me know."

Blaine didn't say anything. He just nodded, holding back a sigh.

Kurt squeezed his hand before dropping it and moving to hug his Dad. Blaine heard him whisper a 'Thank you' very quietly.

"You boys take care of yourself." Burt said, hugging Kurt back and then leaving.

Kurt pursed his lips together and turned to look at Blaine cautiously. "So… I take it the mood is gone and we're not going to continue where we left off?"

"I'd have to agree with that." Blaine let out his sigh and nodded. "That was a bit of a cockblock, you know."

Kurt pursed his lips together and rocked on his heels for a few seconds before smiling. "A kitten, huh?"

"Please, please, please, please, _please_." Blaine said, feeling himself starting to smile. "A really little one that can fit in the palm of my hand."

"Okay." Kurt nodded, moving to hug him. "We'll start looking for your new kitten friend as soon as finals are done. Does that sound like a deal?"

"That sounds like a very good deal." Blaine said, and turned to stick his tongue out at Kreacher, who just growled in response.


	29. Chapter 29

"Kurt, I can't sleep."

Kurt rolled over, snuggling closer to Blaine.

"Kurt, wake up." Blaine reached over¸ shaking his boyfriend's shoulder gently.

"Shuddupandgosleep." Kurt mumbled, turning away from him and yawning loudly. "Gottagepearly."

"Please wake up. I'm too anxious to sleep." Blaine whispered loudly. "And hungry."

"Can't eat." Kurt yawned again, this time covering his face with the palm of his hand. There was no way it was seven because Kurt felt as if he'd only gotten a few hours of sleep. In fat, he was so tired that it almost hurt to open his eyes. It had taken almost an hour to get an anxious Blaine to fall asleep, but clearly Blaine had not _stayed_ asleep. "So early… it's got to be too early."

"Kurt, did you know that people have died from getting their wisdom teeth out?" Blaine asked, voice shaking.

"Oh my God, Blaine. I told you to stay off of Google." Kurt moaned, finally awake enough to be aware of his surroundings. He pushed himself into a sitting position and stared at his boyfriend. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I was nervous. I wanted to be reassured. All you keep saying is 'You'll be fine' and 'I already bought all the ice cream and mashed potatoes in stock. Blaine said, sitting up also. "So I went and looked it up after I used the bathroom and now I'm more scared than I was before. What if something goes wrong?"

" _Nothing is going to go wrong_." Kurt said firmly, looking him in the eyes. "You are going to be _perfectly fine_."

"Am I being annoying?"

"No. You're not." Kurt said, ruffling his hair. "What time is it?"

"Five." Blaine said. "We're supposed to be there at eight. I could die in three hours."

"Mmh, I hope you've got a will. I'll need a lot of black clothes if that happens because I'll be in mourning for the rest of my life." Kurt yawned once more. "I expect I'm getting everything?"

"Was I supposed to make a will?" Blaine's eyes widened.

"Okay. No joking with you today." Kurt said quickly, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck and kissing his face. "No, Blaine. That was a joke. I was trying to make you laugh."

"I'm not in a laughing mood." The older boy said very seriously, gulping for added effect.

"This time next week you'll be back to your chipper, hyper self. I promise." Kurt kissed his face again. "And I'm looking forward to it. I miss my Blaine."

"Assuming I survive, you mean." Blaine said, frowning. "I may not, statistically speaking."

"Oh my God." Kurt repeated, rolling his eyes. It was almost amazing just how dramatic Blaine could get when he felt the need to. "Do we need to go through everything step by step again even though you've read the brochures one thousand times?"

"It might make me feel better."

Kurt shook his head and reached across Blaine, grabbing the wisdom tooth extraction brochure off of the nightstand. "As we've discussed a million times… You come in, they put an IV in your arm, and you're going to go to sleep. They'll cut the teeth out and then they'll wake you up."

"You make it sound easy." Blaine sighed.

"It's not too hard to lay on a bed. You're practically doing it now." Kurt teased, fingering his curls. "After that the fun starts."

"Fun?"

"Well, when they wake you up you'll act positively adorable because of the drugs and I'll really want to snuggle you. I'll get you to the car—face it, I've seen you drunk. I can't imagine you'd walk any better on drugs—and then we'll get in bed. If you want to watch a movie or television we can, but most likely you'll want to sleep. When you're up to eating, I'll bring you all the mashed potatoes and ice cream that your big heart desires. I don't think I ate the first day, though, so you might not feel up to it either." Kurt said thoughtfully.

"I'm going to be so hungry." Blaine sighed, moving back into a laying position.

"You can try some ice cream after we've been home for a bit. You just don't want to try too hard, though, or you'll end up hurting yourself." Kurt said, lying down next to him.

"I'll be relieved when it's over. Do you think they'll let me keep the teeth?"

"Why would you want to?" Kurt asked, scrunching up his nose.

"Proof of my wisdom, duh." Blaine said, nudging close to him.

"That's absolutely disgusting, Blaine. You better hide them somewhere that I don't have to see them." Kurt said, nose still scrunched up. "Do you want to try to get a bit more sleep before we have to go?"

"I'm still nervous and hungry." Blaine tried to shuffle even closer, but they were past the point of being able to get closer.

"I know that but you need to be well rested before tomorrow." Kurt draped an arm around him and pulled him close, spooning their bodies together.

"I thought all I had to do was lay on a bed." Blaine mocked.

Kurt was quiet for several seconds before playfully bopping his boyfriend upside the head. "Go to sleep, Blaine."

* * *

"Hey there, babe." Kurt whispered, leaning down by Blaine when he finally started to stir. He kissed the top of his head. "Let's get you home, sweetie."

"Hi, Kurt." Blaine giggled sleepily, thrusting out his hand for Kurt to grab.

"I think you're going to need a bit more help than that." Kurt laughed and helped Blaine off of the bed, catching him when he stumbled. "Be careful, Blaine. Wrap your arm around me and don't let go, okay? No, Blaine, your hand should be around my shoulder not there. We're in public and you're heavily medicated. _Blaine!"_

"Whoops." Blaine said cheerfully, letting Kurt move his arm around Kurt's shoulders. "Y-You're tall like Finn. Only Finn's a _giant_. You're just… just a little tall." He giggled once again. "Little tall. That's funny. Isn't that funny, Kurt?"

"I'm only two and a half inches taller than you." Kurt said very patiently. "See? Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't die?"

"So smart." Blaine said dreamily, leaning heavily against him. "My boyfriend is so smart. Kurt, Kurt."

"What, baby?" Kurt asked, taking a few steps while keeping his arm firmly around Blaine's thin waist. Just as he had told Blaine last night, he remembered all too well how uncoordinated Blaine was under the influence of alcohol and assumed he would act similarly. Letting Blaine walk on his own was probably not even an option.

Blaine just nuzzled his head into Kurt's shoulder, something that probably would have hurt his mouth if he weren't still so drugged. "Kurt?"

"Yes, Blaine?" Kurt asked.

"Can we get some eggs?"

"Of course." Kurt said automatically. "But right now we're going to go up front and sign you out. You ready to go home, honey?"

"Mmhome." Blaine slurred.

"Okay." Kurt kissed the top of his head and helped him out and into the front office, arm still tight around him. Once they reached the desk he very carefully eased Blaine down into the chair that was right by the window.

"Kurt? Kurt, can we get… can we get some eggs?" Blaine loudly whispered, grabbing Kurt's hand and pulling his arm close to his own chest.

"I already told you we'd get some. I'll get it when I pick up your medicine." Kurt assured him, ruffling his messy hair with his free hand. He laughed when Blaine proceeded to pull him closer. "I have a feeling you'll be getting some quality snuggle time, Blaine Anderson."

"And eggs?" Blaine asked, a very serious expression on his face.

"Yes. And eggs." Kurt laughed again. He made sure the receptionist was still on the telephone with a patient before sitting in the seat next to Blaine's. "I wasn't aware you liked eggs so much, Blaine."

"Sound so good." Blaine said, scooting so his body was leaning over the armrests and resting his head on Kurt's chest. "Kurtsie, Kurt, Kurt." He sang as he nuzzled Kurt's chest.

"You're on so much pain medicine you don't even know you're middle name, and yet your voice is as amazing as ever. It isn't fair, Blaine." Kurt sighed, running his fingers over the back of Blaine's hand.

"Middle name isn't 'Lizabeth." Blaine giggled.'Lizzie McGuire. I liked Gordo. Did you like Gordo?"

"Shh, Blaine." Kurt shushed him. "Don't talk too much. Your mouth will hurt."

"I feel just—just fine." Blaine said, eyes drooping. "Kurt, my head hurts. Don't feel fine anymore."

"Shh." Kurt said again, stroking his hair. "Just sit still and we'll get to go home very soon."

By the time the woman was finally off of the phone with a patient, Blaine was fast asleep, head rested on Kurt's chest. Kurt frowned when he saw the blood on Blaine's face, hoping that it had never been wiped off as opposed to his mouth bleeding again. He carefully stood and approached the window after sitting Blaine comfortably.

"Sorry about that wait! Sometimes the patients just talk and talk! We've already called in a prescription for him. It should be ready within an hour." The woman said in a very cheerful voice, smiling warmly at him. "Your brother should have been given pamphlets about caring for his teeth on his last visit. His check up appointment is on Monday."

Brother. Kurt was sick and tired of people mistaking he and Blaine for brothers. Besides the fact that they both just _oozed_ gayness, the two looks absolutely nothing alike. Sadly it happened more often than not when they were out in public and that was very frustrating for Kurt, who might have just _wanted_ people to know that he was with Blaine.

Kurt glanced at 'his brother,' who was awake again and rubbing his eyes. Despite his annoyance at the receptionist, he had to smile at the way Blaine's hair stuck up in several different angles and that silly, drug-induced smile on his face. Kurt decided he would _have_ to take a picture at some point because the sight was just too cute to not have for forever. "Yeah, we've got them."

"He can't have any hard hot or cold foods for a few days. Make sure he keeps fluids in him. He should be able to eat some tomorrow, but if he feels up to it he can try to toni—."

"Hey, Kurt, can we get some eggs?" Blaine interrupted. "Don't eggs sound amazing right now? They're kinda like your strawberries. You can have scrambled eggs, and the other nasty eggs, and potato salad in an egg, and bacon and egg sandwiches—."

"What on Earth are you going on about?" Kurt laughed and returned his attention back to the lady. "Sorry."

She just laughed also. "At least he's one of the cute ones. Some of them are really rude."

"I'm never rude." Blaine hopped up and walked over. "In fact, David says I'm too nice. It's cause I have a big smile. It makes me nice. Kurt likes my smile."

"Your little brother is just precious."

"He is _not_ my big brother. I am older and I am his _boyfriend_. We are homo sexuals." Blaine giggled, pronouncing homosexuals as if it were two separate words and placing emphasis on _homo_. "Homosexuals. That means same sex. Yep. Homosexuals. I have sex with a man and I am a man and therefore I am a homosexual and so is he. We're both _gaaaay_!"

_And this is why I love Blaine Anderson_ , Kurt thought as Blaine sang the last word of his monologue. No. There would _never_ be anyone else for him. Never, no way.

Kurt just gave the receptionist a sweet smile while she stared at them as if they're grown heads. "Excuse me." He turned to Blaine and said very softly. "Blaine, honey, you just had _surgery_ on your _mouth_. You shouldn't be talking very much yet, okay?"

"Okie dokie artichokie." Blaine chirped as he let his head drop to Kurt's shoulder. He did not fall silent, however. Instead he started humming softly.

"Uhm… Whenever he feels up to eating is fine, but just make sure it's nothing anything he can't handle. Also, you'll want to make sure he doesn't have any caffeine. It could contribute to him getting dry socket." The woman said awkwardly, not looking Kurt in the face anymore. Kurt couldn't tell if she was offended or embarrassed though.

"Okay." Kurt nodded as Blaine moved away. "B-Blaine, stop. Oh my God, Blaine, baby, you're like a child. Come back here."

"They've got fishes and these are real. Not like the ones in my cup." Blaine exclaimed loudly, bending down and poking the aquarium. "Hi fishy. Glub glub glub."

Kurt just giggled and pocketed Blaine's prescription. "If he has questions, can we call here?"

"Yes. Have a good day. I'm sure it'll be interesting, at any rate." The lady gave him a less-than-sincere smile and turned her attention to another receptionist that had come up behind her.

"Interesting might be an understatement." Kurt mumbled as he crossed the room. He put his hand on Blaine's back, rubbing small circles with the palm of his hand. "Come on, babe. Let's go and buy some eggs and get your happy pills."

"Can we get my kitten, Kurt? Can we go look at kittens?"

"If you're feeling okay we'll go look at kittens tomorrow." Kurt promised. "But I need to get you home soon, alright? Soon your medicine is going to wear off and you won't feel too great."

"That's awesome." Blaine said, standing up straight. Kurt had to give props to Blaine. When Kurt had gotten his wisdom teeth out he had slurred the entire first day, but he was able to understand his boyfriend completely. He did go back and forth between slurring his words, but for the most part he was doing very well.

"You're so funny." Kurt laughed, taking Blaine's hand and leading him out of the room. He let Blaine walk on his own until they made it outside of the building and reached the steps. As soon as they did he wrapped one arm around Blaine's waist. "Now we're coming to some steps, okay?"

"I got this, Kurt." Blaine declared, lifting his foot up much higher than necessary.

"Oh boy." Kurt muttered as he helped Blaine down the steps. Now he knew how everyone felt taking care of him while he was drugged out of his mind. Though he had to admit, it was pretty funny from this point of view. At this point, he was almost convinced that Blaine was cuter than his baby sister—and that was saying something.

"One… two… three… four!" Blaine whispered with each step he took. "That was four, Kurtsie."

"I'm glad two years of a college education has taught you so well." Kurt teased. And Blaine called Kurt the adorable one.

"Huh?" Blaine looked up, hazel eyes wide and bright.

"Never mind, sweetie." Kurt said, kissing his forehead and using the sleeve of his shirt (which was old, thank goodness) to wipe some of the blood off of Blaine's cheek.

"Were you making fun of me?" Blaine pouted, eyes still wide. "That's not very nice."

"Okay, okay. That was mean. I'm very sorry." Kurt got him to the car and opened the passenger door. He looked back to Blaine, eyes narrowing. "Stop poking it with your tongue."

"'m not." Blaine lied, wincing.

"Blaine, the doctor said to not mess with it." Kurt repeated, trying to sound stern.

"That wasn't in the brochure, Kurt." Blaine protested. "I'd know because I read it one thousand and forty two times."

"That's called common sense, baby. And you should probably stop talking so much because you'll hurt yourself." Kurt eased Blaine into the car, putting his hand over Blaine's head so he wouldn't hit himself if he decided to dart his head up really fast like he had done when he'd had Strep Throat and Kurt had helped him into the car. "Look at that messy hair. It's adorable. We'll not speak of this when you aren't drugged, okay?"

"Mmkay." Blaine chirped, fiddling with his seatbelt. "My mouth hurts."

"Don't mess with it with your tongue, Blaine." Kurt went around the car and got into the driver sear. "Okay, babe?"

"I like it when you call me pet names, Kurt." Blaine slurred, giving Kurt a smile.

"Well I like it when you let me do it." Kurt smiled back. "Now we're going to stop messing with the holes with your tongue, okay?"

"Mmkay." Blaine nodded. "We're going to get my eggs now, right?"

"Blaine," Kurt laughed. "I wasn't aware you were so obsessed with eggs!"

"They sound so g _oooo_ d." Blaine crooned, leaning his head against the window and closing his eyes. "I don't feel so good, Kurt."

"Are you going to throw up?" Kurt, who was now in the driver's seat, moved to open his door.

"Uh-uh." Blaine shook his head and curled up.

"If you feel sick, tell me and I'll pull over." Kurt said. "We'll be home soon. We're just going to get the prescription filled for you."

"Can we go look at the pet store, Kurt? It's right next door." Blaine whined.

"Maybe." Kurt said, backing out of the parking spot and driving towards the store. Every once in a while he glanced over at Blaine, who remained curled up and every once in a while let out a pained noise. The older boy didn't straighten until they pulled into the pet store parking lot. He blinked sleepily out the window and then perked up when he realized where they were.

"C'mon! Wow, this medicine is totally amazing. C'mon, Kurt!" Blaine exclaimed, fighting with the door handle to get the door open. "Did you child lock it?"

"No, but I probably should have." Kurt commented, reaching over and opening the door handle. "How much of that medicine did they give you?"

"They gave me tons of gas first because I was nervous." Blaine said, climbing out of the car. He almost tripped over his own feet in excitement.

"Wait for me! You couldn't even walk five minutes ago!" Kurt climbed out of the car and shut both doors, hurrying after his boyfriend. By the time he made it into the shop, his boyfriend was no where to be found. "Did you happen to see a very excitable looking boy come through here by any chance? Curly hair and adorable cheeks?"

A guy who was sitting behind the counter and looked very bored pointed in the direction of the fish tanks. "He was there a minute ago but he was moving pretty fast."

"Thanks." Kurt said, going in the direction of the fishes. He found Blaine in the corner, nose pressed to a tank. "Blaine, what are you looking at?"

"Nemo and his pals." Blaine said without looking up, not sounding as excited as he had before.

Kurt went up behind him and rubbed his back. "Doing okay?"

"My head hurts" He said, moving back until his back was pressed to Kurt's chest and pointing at the fishes. "See? It's clown fish."

Kurt looked where Blaine's finger pointed to and nodded. "Mhmm."

Blaine tilted his head and then looked back at Kurt, making puppy eyes.

"No." Kurt said instantly. There was no way he was getting pulled into this. Absolutely no way.

"Please? It's Nemo, Kurt. I found him."

"Blaine, I didn't bring you here to leave with a clown fish that happens to look like Nemo."

"You wouldn't let me get the bunny." Blaine said stubbornly, sticking his lip out. "Or the hedgehog."

" _Dalton_ wouldn't let you get the hedgehog, thank God." Kurt corrected. "And that rabbit had been there so long because it was mean. That's why they kept lowering the price."

Blaine scooted closer and nuzzled Kurt's shoulder. "Please?"

"Blaine." Kurt sighed, raising his hand and combing his fingers through Blaine's hair. "We didn't come here to buy fish."

"He's only thirty dollars. Your shoes were three hundred."

"Oh God, the shoes. How did I know you were gong to use that against me?" Kurt tilted his head back and rolled his eyes. "Fine. You can get a Nemo."

"We don't want Nemo to be lonely though." Blaine said slowly. "Right?"

"Blaine…" Kurt opened his mouth to say no, but just couldn't make the word come. Not when Blaine's cheeks were already starting to bruise and swell. Not when he looked so exhausted and pitiful. "Alright. Which other one do you want?"

Blaine walked down the aisle thoughtfully, peering into each one for several long minutes. Kurt very patiently waited until the shorter boy pointed out a bright blue fish. "This one."

"I'm sensing a theme here, aren't I?" Kurt laughed as he looked at the blue Tang. His eyes widened when he saw the price though. The fish was nearly ninety dollars.

"I know not what theme you speak of." Blaine said, offering an adorable smile. "Is it too much?"

"Not if you want it." Kurt whispered, kissing the back of his shoulder.

"Thank you, Kurt!" Blaine turned and threw his arms around Kurt's neck.

"You're welcome. I'm going to regret this, I know it, but, are there any others you want?"

"This one and this one." Blaine said, pointing to two adjacent fish instantly. One was a puffer fish and another one was a pink starfish.

"No theme, huh? Because it seems like you've _found_ Nemo and all of his friends." Kurt laughed.

"Is it okay?" Blaine asked quietly.

"Yes, Blaine. It's okay." Kurt nodded, very seriously. "I'll just go and talk to the people so we can figure out what to do for them, okay? You do know that we can't take them home today, right? The aquarium has to be set up and stuff first, otherwise they could die. Want to go and look at the cats when I talk to them?"

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded eagerly and went off in the direction of the cats.

"If he thinks he's still getting a cat in two months, he's got another thinking coming." Kurt mumbled, mostly joking, as he went to find an associate.

* * *

"'m dying." Blaine moaned several hours later, rolling onto his stomach.'m dying. Put me out of m' misery."

"Good afternoon, sleepyhead." Kurt, who was sitting next to Blaine and working on some school work while he slept, whispered. He set his tablet aside and leaned down, kissing the back of Blaine's head. "If I put you out of your misery, you wouldn't get to see your fish next week."

"Huh?"

"Oh God. Don't tell me you don't even remember. Were you _that_ drugged?"

Blaine just rolled onto his side, not facing Kurt, and whined.

"Oh God. You were." Kurt's eyes widened. "And I just spent near $800 on… oh boy."

Blaine rolled over really fast, eyes wide. "What the hell did you spend $800 on?"

"Nemo and all his friends. You were excited for real fish. It seemed like a good idea at the time." Kurt said lamely. "Are you mad? Because you can't return fish and David already help me get the tank set up and stuff. That thing was _heavy_."

Blaine just curled against him, head resting on Kurt's lap.

"Hmm?" Kurt asked, stroking his hair.

"I like fish." Blaine said pitifully, voice coming out much more slurred than it had been earlier that day. "They can attend my funeral."

"Blaine," Kurt giggled. "Don't be so dramatic. It's not that bad."

"It really hurts, Kurt." Blaine mumbled into Kurt's thigh.

"That's why I've been trying to get you to not talk so much." Kurt frowned and stroked Blaine's forehead. He definitely hadn't felt great after he'd had his out, he'd been lazy for days, but it hadn't been _that_ bad. He could tell, though, that Blaine really was in a lot of pain. "Do you want me to get you some medicine?"

"No." Blaine whimpered, shaking his head.

"It'll help with the pain though." Kurt said gently.

"I just need love." Blaine whined. "It'll hurt my stomach."

Kurt scooted until he was in a position that he could wrap his arms around Blaine and quickly did so. "My poor Blaine will use any excuse to seek out affection, won't he?"

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded into Kurt's side. "Poor Blaine."

"You're so cute." Kurt laughed, playing with his hair. "Are you numb at all?"

Blaine raised his head, looking confused. He then raised his hand to his cheek and poked it. "Yep. My face feels funny. But my jaw still hurts. Is that strange?"

"I don't know how it's supposed to feel too much. I just slept." Kurt shrugged. "But I don't think you're supposed to poke at your face."

Blaine tilted his head, staring ahead.

"Don't mess with it with your tongue, Blaine." Kurt sighed for the millionth time since leaving the doctor's office.

"Shouldn't I have gauze stuff?"

"Nope. They said you were fine without it. You slept back there longer than most people do, so I think you passed that time frame. Do you want some ice?"

"Ow!" Blaine yelped.

"Stop messing with it." Kurt repeated, poking Blaine repeatedly in the stomach and on his side. "They said not to talk too much either, remember?"

"Good because it's making me sore." Blaine curled up and let out another pitiful whine.

"Here. I'm gonna go get some ice and some medicine." Kurt slid out of the bed and bent to kiss the top of his head. "I love you, Blaine."

"Love you." Blaine murmured, closing his eyes.

By the time Kurt made it back to the room, Blaine was fast asleep.

* * *

That night and the next morning were worse. The doctors said he would feel much better, but clearly they were liars.

In the middle of the night Blaine's mouth had started to bleed. A lot. That definitely had _not_ happened to Kurt. But it was okay, Carole assured them at almost three in the morning when Kurt frantically called. It had happened to Finn and he had been fine. They just needed to put some gauze over it until it re-clotted. Despite the attempt to stop the bleeding, Blaine ended up throwing up because of all the blood that he ended up swallowing.

Kurt could definitely sympathize with him there, because he remembered all too well what it was like to swallow blood and then vomit because of it. Not fun were the first words that came to mind.

It turned out, also, that poor Blaine hated to throw up. In fact, he was one of those people who _really_ hated to throw up. Kurt knew this because he had gone to get Blaine water, hoping to get the taste out of his mouth, and when he'd come back he had found Blaine crying on the floor. Which had broken Kurt's heart beyond what words could express.

"Blaine, what's wrong?" Kurt asked, kneeling down by him.

"I-I'm in p-pain and I g-got throw up on y-you a-and me a-and I hate to t-throw up. I-It hurts." Blaine cried. "My mouth really hurts."

"Oh, Blaine." Kurt cooed, sitting and pulling Blaine into his lap. "You weren't joking when you said you didn't handle pain well, were you?"

Blaine let out a particularly loud sob into Kurt's shoulder.

"Shh, shh, shh." Kurt whispered, rocking him and wondering just how much of this was Blaine and just how much was his reaction from the drugs. "It'll be better soon and then you won't have those head aches. And the doctor gave me your disgusting, bloody teeth too. I made him put them inside three other bags because I wouldn't touch them otherwise. He gave me all six of them. The ones that were under look really weird. They don't even really look like teeth"

Blaine just sniffled into his neck, no longer crying but still feeling very sorry for himself.

"Wanna see them now?" Kurt asked.

Blaine sat up and nodded, wiping his watery eyes.

Another factor was definitely the fact that Blaine was tired. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, Kurt noted. He would be making sure Blaine slept a great deal from here on out until he was perfectly healthy.

"Okay." Kurt moved Blaine off of his lap and went to get the bag(s) with Blaine's teeth. Once he made it back into the bathroom he sat on the floor next to him and handed them over. Blaine tilted his head and looked at it. "Looks odd, huh?"

"Looks gross." Blaine said, scrunching his face up and then wincing.

"I know." Kurt reached up and stroked Blaine's short curls. "Your hair has a mind of it's own today, babe."

Blaine just sniffled and nodded. "It's because I slept on it and didn't shower."

"Poor thing." Kurt sighed. "Let's get you back into bed. Stomach feel better?"

"No." Blaine shook his head.

"Are you going to be sick again?" Kurt ran his hand up and down Blaine's back soothingly.

"N —yes." Blaine crawled to the toilet, heaved himself up over the side, and began to vomit.

"Oh, oh, oh." Kurt whispered, moving over to him and rubbing his back. He sat on the floor, hand rubbing up and down until finally Blaine fell against him, already asleep.

* * *

"I feel awful." Blaine whimpered late the next day, curled up on the bed. Kurt was sitting up next to him and Blaine _had_ been laying down, asleep, but that was unfortunately no longer the case. He would have rather been asleep, but the sharp pain in his jaw kept waking him up.

"I didn't know you were awake again." Kurt said, looking down and closing his laptop. "Can you not sleep?"

"It keeps waking me up." Blaine moaned.

"Do you want your medicine?" Kurt asked, moving his hand to his back and rubbing small circles.

"Don't want to throw up again. And I'm comfy." Blaine mumbled into his side. "As comfy as I can be."

"You're not slurring anymore. That's good." Kurt offered, in hopes that it would make his boyfriend feel better. At least that was one thing he had moved past concerning the surgery and hopefully within the next two days Blaine would feel just fine. Hopefully, but Blaine seemed to be in a lot more pain than Kurt was when he'd had them out. Then again, Kurt had been twelve or thirteen when he'd had his wisdom teeth removed and stuff like that was always easier when you were younger. Either way, he knew Blaine would feel fine again soon-he just didn't know _how_ soon.

"I'd rather be slurring and numb." Blaine rolled onto his back and blinked at the ceiling, feeling like his jaw hurt so much that little lights were dancing before his eyes. And maybe they were, because his jaw _really_ hurt. "Oh God, this is awful. Why did you let me do this to myself?"

"Well you could have waited for them to come up, move all your teeth around, and have to miss two weeks of school... or you could have done the mature Blaine thing, which was to miss only a few days of school by going right before your spring break. If I'd let you do it the other way around, you'd be getting onto me for that too." Kurt pointed out. "I think you just need a distraction. We watched the Little Mermaid last night. Do you want to watch that one again or do you want to watch The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, When Harry Met Sally, The Notebook, or something else?"

Blaine rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gave a small yawn, trying his hardest to not open his mouth too wide as he did so. "What do you want to watch?"

"No, sir. You're the one being taken care of right now, Blaine Anderson. It is your turn to pick anyway... Just please don't pick anything High School Musical related."

Blaine snorted and curled up at his side again. "I want to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas."

"In March?" Kurt's eyebrow shot up.

"You said I get to pick." Blaine pointed out, raising his own. "It's what I pick. At least I didn't pick Jane Eyre."

"I still don't know how you find that thing interesting." Kurt's nose scrunched up. "It was so boring and they're voices were so monotone. It made me want to fall asleep."

"I'm sorry you feel that way because that one is second on the list." Blaine said, watching carefully for a reaction. When Kurt just nodded, Blaine smirked inwardly-if he had actually done so, it definitely would have caused him a lot of pain. Pain that he would like to avoid. "Mr. Hummel, I am impressed. You must really love me."

"Something like that." Kurt laughed, ruffling his hair and crawling out of bed. "I'm going to get you something so you can at least try to eat because all you would do for me yesterday is drink milkshakes. I did go and get you real soup from a deli earlier when you were still sleeping. I never bothered to learn to make soup because it's such a pointless food anyway, otherwise I'd have made you some. We've got pudding, jello, mashed potatoes, bananas, tons and tons of ice cream in all five of your favorite flavors-Yes, you love me, I know- and there's something I'm forgetting..."

"Mmh, what kind of pudding?" Blaine asked, not even waiting for him to finish. Every food he listed made him twice as hungry as he was before. If Kurt kept listing foods, he was afraid his stomach might explode. Besides, the sooner Kurt stopped the sooner Blaine would get food.

"The kind with chocolate and vanilla mixed in, of course. What other kind is there?" Kurt scoffed. "Want some of that, babe?"

"Mhmm. Thanks." Blaine nodded, clutching Kurt's pillow and pulling it to his chest.

"You're welcome. I'll grab the DVD when I'm out there and your medicine in case you want some." Kurt added, ruffling his messy hair once again and leaving the room.

Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned against his pillows, staring blankly at the wall while he waited for Kurt to return. He didn't even hear little padding on the floor. All he knew was one minute he was alone and the next minute he felt pawing on his leg. He looked down at his feet and saw Kreacher, who immediately stopped pawing and looked up expectantly.

"Fine." Blaine sighed, reaching down and pulling Kreacher into his lap. He absentmindedly pet the dog, who panted happily and wagged his tail for several seconds before going completely still—something not common for Kreacher.

"Oh God, you've killed him, haven't you?" Kurt gasped coming in with two cups of pudding, a glass of water, and Blaine's pain medication.

"No, I have not. He's harassing me."

"Harassing you? He's practically asleep." Kurt said, pointing. "What did you do to him?"

"I dunno." Blaine shrugged and reached for his pudding. "Thank you."

"Did you drug him?" Kurt asked skeptically.

"Sure did. I'm a big fan of sharing drugs." Blaine rolled his eyes and pulled the foil off of the pudding cup. Kreacher immediately stood on two legs, putting his front legs on Blaine's shoulder. "No. Bad dumb dog. Down."

Kreacher looked back and forth between Blaine, Kurt, and the pudding cup. He then grabbed the second pudding cup, which Blaine had sat next to him, and tore from the room. Kurt yelped something about "my clothes!" and "just washed" while running after him.

"Told him the dog was evil. But does anyone ever believe Blaine? _Nooo_." Blaine said smugly. He went to reach for a spoon before realizing Kurt hadn't given him one. "Aw, damn... Kurt! Kuuuurt!"

"I'm a bit busy!" Kurt yelled from somewhere else within the apartment. He heard a clattering pan, something toppling over, and Kurt going, "How the hell did you get up there?"

"Kuuuuurt!"

He didn't get an answer, but that was probably because there were several loud bangs right as he was calling for his boyfriend. He looked around, as if to make sure nobody was looking, and licked some of the pudding out of the cup.

"You are in SO MUCH TROUBLE!" Kurt yelled from the other room.

Blaine licked some more pudding out of the cup, now confident Kurt wouldn't be back any time soon. Soon Kreacher would be found, Kurt would spank him, Kreacher would whine, and Kurt would fuss over him and mutter over and over that he wasn't a bad parent as if Kreacher was a human being-which Kurt seemed to sometimes think, Blaine had noticed.

By the time Kurt made it back, Blaine had finished the entire cup of pudding and was thinking how it would be really nice if he'd that second one because he was hungrier than he had realized. Kurt came in, scowling.

"That dog is in so much trouble. And so are you!"

"What'd I do?" Blaine yelped. "I've been here this whole time."

"Because you moved the lock for his cage again and I couldn't find it so he got out! I had to chase him around the kitchen and living room five times!"

"Whoops." Blaine said, resisting the urge to laugh at Kurt's flustered face.

"Why do you have chocolate on your nose, Blaine?" Kurt sighed.

"Did you happen to bring me another pudding cup?" Blaine asked hopefully, hoping that if he ignored the question Kurt wouldn't put two and two together.

"I knew I was forgetting something." Kurt mumbled. "I'll be right back."

"Spoon too, please!"

* * *

Blaine, who was in the process of stretching as he first awoke, cracked open an eye and blinked at the wall of his bedroom sleepily. Two days had passed and while he was feeling _better_ , he still wasn't feeling _good_. At this point he was starting to doubt he ever would.

"Someone's starting to wake up, Melody. Look at that. Is Blaine starting to wake up?"

Blaine rolled onto his side, pulling the pillow over his head and wondering why he was hearing things. Maybe the pain medicine was really getting to him. Then again, it had been hours since he'd taken it last.

"Oh, maybe not." He heard the muffled voice say before a series of loud squeals filled the room. Not two seconds later he felt a tiny little hand patting the hand that held the pillow over his head. Now he was feeling things too? Maybe he really _did_ need to stop taking those pain killers.

"Mmmh." Blaine slowly moved the pillow and tilted his head, peering at the nine month old that was busy crawling onto his chest. He threw his arms in the air. "Oh no! Look what the evil doggy dragged in!"

"Uh uh uh uh!" Melody squealed, raising her own chubby arms up.

"Uh uh uh uh?" Blaine questioned, moving into a sitting position and carefully moving Melody with him so she wouldn't topple over.

"She tries to repeat words." Carole explained from next to the bed. "A lot."

"Ah." Blaine plopped back down into a lying position, putting Melody into a sitting position on his chest.

"How do you feel, hon? Do you need some medicine? Kurt told me where it was at."

"My head is killing me." Blaine admitted. "It always is."

"Finn was pretty out of it for a while." Carole reached over and patted his arm. "I'll go get your medicine."

"Thanks." Blaine pulled the covers up, intentionally pulling them over Melody. She let out several squeals and then started laughing. Blaine pulled them over his head too so he could see her. "Whatchoo laughing at, pumpkin?"

She didn't answer, just continued to giggle adorably.

"Oh no, where did they go?" Carole asked loudly. "Where did Melody and Blaine go?"

This only prompted louder giggles from the baby, who was now attempting to hide her face with her tiny hand..

"Aw dang it, Melody! You ruined it!" Blaine laughed, pushing the blanket off of them.

"And _you_ ruined her hair." Carole scolded, handing him a glass of water and some medicine. "Do you know how long it takes to get a nine month old to sit still long enough to brush her hair, Blaine?"

"Nuh-uh. But I don't feel good and Kurt says no body can be mean to me. Any complaints can be sent to him." Blaine shook his head and downed his medicine. "Thank you for the medicine."

"You're welcome, hon." Carole sat back down and grabbed Melody, who was waving her hands dangerously close to Blaine's bruised face. "I made you some soup. Kurt told me the extent of your soup had been from a can and from a deli. I figured you might like some homemade soup. We also went to see Kurt's grandparents and Annie sent some soup for you as well, along with a get well card."

Blaine stared at her, shocked and touched. "W-wow. Thanks, Carole."

Carole smiled and ruffled his hair. "It's no problem, Blaine. You can only live off of mashed potatoes so long."

"Last night Kurt made me scrambled eggs for dinner. I ate them all." Blaine yawned, but tried to open his mouth as little as possible. "They were good."

"That's good that you're eating solids. It took Finn longer." Carole smiled again, this time a bit sadly. "You poor thing. Both of your cheeks are bruised and swollen."

"It's gone down a lot. Oh God. I'll be right back." Blaine stumbled out of the bed and ran down the hall, barely making it to the toilet before he began to vomit.

Within seconds Carole was behind him, hand rubbing small circles on his back and whispering soothingly. "Just get it all out, hon. It's okay."

"I'm sorry." Blaine moaned between gagging.

"Don't apologize. Kurt told me you've been pretty nauseous."

Blaine just whimpered and turned the shower faucet on, washing his vomit down the drain. The smell made him gag again but thankfully nothing else came up.

"Okay, I'm going to set up the couch so you can lay in there while I get you some food." Carole gently helped him up. "Want to brush your teeth?"

Blaine nodded and went to the sink, grabbing his toothbrush and toothpaste. He cringed when he saw his plump and bruised cheeks. When he made it to the living room he saw Carole putting a blanket and pillows on the couch while Melody bounced happily in her baby seat, trying to catch her toes.

"I look like a chipmunk." Blaine declared, pulling Melody out of her seat.

"It will all go away soon." Carole assured him, patting the couch. "On the couch, c'mon. Kurt told me to not let you up and about because you're not sleeping through the night."

"He just likes being in a position of power over me." Blaine muttered teasingly as he lay down.

"Hon, be careful. I don't want her to hurt you." Carole said anxiously. "Are you sure you want her?"

"Of course I do." Blaine squealed as Melody grabbed her feet, squealing gleefully. He tickled Melody's little feet and smiled when she grabbed his finger. "She's my best friend!"

"She's everybody's best friend." Carole laughed as she scooted the baby seat closer to the couch, so that it was easily within Blaine's reach. "I'm going to put this right here in case you want to set her down."

Blaine waved his finger and Melody's hand, smiling a bit. "Alright, but I think we'll be okay."

"Oh, I'm sure you will." Carole shook her head and handed him the remote. "I'm going to get you some food. "Do you want to try some eggs again? Or how about some applesauce or a banana? Jello?"

"Whatever is easiest." Blaine shrugged, curling up with a cooing Melody. He really didn't feel like it would be polite to be picky when someone was taking care of him and, truth be told, he didn't really care what he ate anyway. Anything would probably come right back up anyway.

Carole just rolled her eyes. "What do you want? I'm here for a reason."

"What is that reason?" Blaine tilted his head.

"I believe Kurt is picking up something special for you today." Carole chirped.

"My fishes?" Blaine asked eagerly, eyes lightening up. He had almost forgotten that it was the day his fishes were coming home.

"Yes." She smiled. "Now what do you want, sweetheart?"

"Applesauce." Blaine said after some very serious hesitation. He looked down at Melody while Carole left the room. She was paying very close attention to her leg but once she saw Blaine looking at her, she reached up and grabbed his nose. "Uh oh. Let's find you some real toys, hmm?"

Melody just grabbed his hair and gently tugged, completely uninterested in the fact that Blaine was now getting on the floor next to her toy bag.

"Stackable blocks are more fun than hair." Blaine cooed, reaching out and grabbing one of her plush stackable blocks out of the bag. He then sat Melody up on the floor next to him, with her back against the couch. "And look! This one has a giraffe! Giraffes are taller than me. A lot of things are taller than me, actually. Including Kurt. And you probably will be too, pumpkin."

Melody reached for the block and, after Blaine gave it to her, began to suck on the corner.

"Uh oh. Must be raining in the savannah. That's where a giraffe lives." Blaine said, picking up another block. "See the birdy? Kurt and I used to have a birdy. Well, I had it first and then Kurt got it."

Melody reached for the other block with her free hand and then placed it back in the bag neatly.

"We are not a fan of birds." Blaine laughed a bit, pulling it back out and handing it to her again. She gave him a look that could only be one of annoyance as she put it back into the bag. Blaine heaved a fake sigh and pulled out another one. "How about the elephant? Have your mommy and daddy let you watch Dumbo? With the big ears?" He leaned over and tickled her ear, causing her to cry out in laughter.

"Blaine, didn't I tell you to lie down on the couch?" Carole scolded, coming in with applesauce.

"She made me do it." Blaine said, pointing at Melody who was still happily slobbering all over her giraffe block.

"Yes. Melody asked you to get up and go through her toys. I'm sure." Carole laughed. "Have you been giving Kurt a hard time, not resting when you should be? I'm starting to think you've been difficult."

"Maybe." Blaine shrugged. "I like to think he's the one giving me a hard time."

Carole rolled her eyes. "He just wants you to feel better. He told me you keep trying to move around and clean stuff. And work on homework."

"Because I'm _bored_." Blaine sighed dramatically.

"Don't make excuses, young man. Park your butt on that couch and don't move until that applesauce is all gone."

Blaine looked at her several times, not even blinking. He then slowly got onto the couch, taking the bowl of applesauce from her.

"Thank you." Carole said, looking pleased with herself. "It never works on Finn and I highly doubt it would work on Kurt. At least it works on one of my boys. Now I'm going to get Melody to take her nap, so don't talk to her. If you do, it'll excite her."

"If you insist." Blaine tucked his legs underneath himself and began to eat his applesauce, mumbling, "I was serious when I said I wanted the purple kind. Why does he always think I'm joking?"

Carole, who was attempting to rock Melody to sleep, snorted loudly and shook her head. "You two are something else."

Blaine's eyes lit up when the front door opened.

"You're right, sweetie. It's impossible to get him to lay down and rest." Carole called before the door was even open all the way.

"Tell me about it. He's like a hyperactive squirrel, isn't he?" Kurt smirked, coming in. "Hi there, Blaine."

"'Lo." Blaine said, covering his mouth that was full of applesauce.

"Hey, dude!" Finn said, following. He held two bags in his hands, each with an individual fish. He cringed when he saw Blaine. "Ouch, your face."

"Finn!" Carole exclaimed.

"Leave my chipmunk alone, Finn." Kurt snapped, going over. "Oh, applesauce?"

"It's not purple." Blaine said, reaching for one of the bags—the one containing the blow fish. "I dub thee Squishy because I want to squish you!"

"He on his medicine?" Kurt whispered, patting some of Blaine's hair down with his free hand.

"Dude, this aquarium is _awesome_!" Finn said, setting the two bags into the aquarium. "He said you have to leave them in the bags so they can adjust."

"I remember, Finn." Kurt rolled his eyes before turning his attention to Blaine, taking the blowfish from him. "Clearly the clown fish has to be Nemo, babe."

"Mmkay." Blaine nodded, taking a bite of his applesauce. "Can you get me a banana?"

"I could have gotten you one, Blaine!" Carole said and turned to Kurt. "I had to pry to get him to tell me anything he wanted to eat."

"He's had no problem bossing me around this week." Kurt rolled his eyes and, on his way to get a banana, gave Finn the other two bags of fish.

Carole followed after Kurt. "He threw up before he took his medicine. That's why I wanted him to eat. I was hoping it would settle his stomach a bit."

"That's why he hates to take it so much." Kurt sighed, grabbing the banana. "It hurts his stomach. But if he just takes Advil it does absolutely nothing for him… I'm hoping he feels better tomorrow or the next day. They won't put him on the medicine longer than that."

"Which is why he needs to rest." Carole nodded. "I tried to get him to but as soon as I left the room he started playing with Melody."

"Don't worry. He'll fall asleep on his own." Kurt assured her. "He's been taking a lot of mini naps. It's better than nothing and I guess it makes up for him not sleeping completely through the night."

"I suppose." Carole nodded, following Kurt back into the living room. Blaine was laying on the couch, his head rested on one of the pillows and his eyes closed.

"Baby, want to get in bed?" Kurt whispered, crouching down by him and smoothing his hair down. "Get some more rest?"

"Don't need rest." Blaine mumbled, sounding half asleep.

"Hon, go and get into bed. After you wake up, you can eat some more and you'll feel better."

Blaine nodded, eyes still closed. "Mmkay."

"At least he didn't put up a fight this time." Kurt laughed. "I'll be right back, Carole. I'm going to help Mr. Sleepyhead get into bed."

"Take your time, sweetie." Carole smiled, watching Kurt help Blaine out of the room as she picked Melody up and out of her baby seat.

"My face still looks like a chipmunk." Blaine whined as Kurt helped him into bed. "And I can get into bed on my own."

"I know. I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable and had everything near you." Kurt said smoothly, although he really just wanted to tuck Blaine in and make sure he actually fell asleep.

"Always got everything 'cause you bring too much stuff." Blaine grabbed Kurt's pillow. "You just like taking care of me when I'm pitiful."

"I do like to take care of you." Kurt responded, pulling their comforter up over his boyfriend. "Don't you like being taken care of?"

"Mhmm. You take good care of me." Blaine closed his eyes. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Kurt sat on the edge of the bed and stroked his hair.

"Hey, Kurt?"

"Yeah, baby?" Kurt whispered.

"Thanks for getting my fish... and for taking care of me in general, really. On your spring break even. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Blaine." Kurt smiled. "Just think. This time in May we'll be in Michigan. A whole week of only you and I. No work, no school."

"No dog." Blaine buried the side of his face in Kurt's pillow and blinked at his boyfriend sleepily.

"Fine. No dog." Kurt agreed. "But you get to break the news to him."

"I'm okay with that. I'm not afraid to upset him like _you_ are." Blaine laughed.

"You know that you like him. You just don't want to admit it." Kurt said, gently touching Blaine's cheek. "Does it feel better today?"

"Yeah... It's not as sharp anymore. It's kind of a dull pain... but if I open my mouth too far the sharp pain comes back."

"Well hopefully this means tomorrow or the next day only the dull pain will come when you open your mouth." Kurt smiled, finally sitting himself on the edge of the bed. He rested his head against Blaine's. "Can you believe in July we will have been living alone together for a _year_?"

Blaine blinked several times, eyes wide. "Wow... you're right. Isn't that weird?"

"Very weird." Kurt nodded. "Do you think next year will be easier?"

"I do." Blaine nodded. "I think that next year we'll have more of a routine in place. I think it's just going to get easier, you know?"

Kurt smiled. "I like that way of thinking, Blaine. But I do think things will be tough once we graduate our respective schools. You'll probably find a job sooner than I will, for instance. And once I do find a job it will be very chaotic. I'll probably start out having to work for someone else and watch them take credit for things I do. Until someone invests in me and then the real hectic stuff will start. Meanwhile you'll be in some big law firm doing God knows what, but hopefully you'll be in a position of power over most of them."

"I don't think I'll be in a position of power over people too soon... and I think that you'll get picked up sooner than you think, Kurt. You're _really_ good. That's why your professors all love you. That's why you're so dedicated and why you get such good grades. You're amazing at what you do. You could be amazing at anything you chose to do, though. That's just how you are... so I don't think you need to worry. Besides, I'll have money."

"Your money doesn't have anything to do with that." Kurt shrugged.

"I'm just saying you don't need to worry. I'll take care of you." Blaine whispered, linking their hands together.

"I want to take care of myself, you know." Kurt said, squeezing his hand.

"I know... but until you're capable of doing it, I'll take care of you... What else would I use the money on besides to get us a house and stuff? Plus, I'm just talking my inheritance here. Hopefully I'll get a good paying job as a lawyer too... and, you know..." Blaine trailed off.

"What?"

"I'll have that money when Grandma dies. If you haven't made it by then, I can invest in you. You know, later. When we're married and done with school."

"Blaine, no." Kurt said immediately.

"It's barely even my money, Kurt. The only reason I'm getting it is because my grandfather died." Blaine shrugged. "And I don't _need_ that much money."

"But it's yours. And I wouldn't want you to do that." Kurt whispered, moving back so he could face Blaine and look into his eyes. "I mean, I appreciate the thought... I really do… but that's just too much, Blaine. No. I wouldn't let you do that."

Blaine tilted his head, looking at him with big hazel eyes. "But why not? If I can do something for you, shouldn't I?"

"No. Not something like this, honey." Kurt leaned forward and kissed him gently, careful not to hurt him. "You're such a sweet person. Do you know that?"

"I try." Blaine scooted close, burying his face in Kurt's shoulder. "I'm really excited for my fish. This is a major step up from plastic fishes in a cup."

"Nice change of subject." Kurt said, kissing the top of his head. "I'm glad you're excited for the real fish though. They were expensive enough, so you should be!"

"It's going to be nice to talk to fish that move on their own and not when I shake a cup." Blaine snorted, smiling a bit.

"Does this mean I can throw that cup away?" Kurt questioned, mostly teasing. He could only imagine the depressing Blaine would go through without that silly cup.

Blaine looked up from his shoulder, eyes wide in mock horror. "Of course not!"

"Okay, okay. I was just asking!"

Blaine rolled away from him and curled up muttering, "Throw away my fishie cup."


	30. Chapter 30

Kurt was exhausted. He was past the point of being tired, really. He was so exhausted that he felt sick. He was sure that it was nothing more than the simple feeling of being exhausted because there was no way that Kurt Hummel was sick. This couldn't be happening, especially not this close to midterms and surely not this close to the end of the semester. Everything was piling up, yet again, and there was just no way Kurt could handle it. He _couldn_ _'_ _t_ _be_ _sick_ because he simply didn't have time to be.

However that didn't stop the on and off fever he'd had since the day before yesterday. It also didn't stop the random coughing fits that had been easy to hide from Blaine yesterday when he was at school, but now his luck was running out and he was finding it hard to hide them.

Kurt had offered to drive them to Lima for dinner with the family and he was currently trying his hardest not to cough but that only left his entire chest feeling tight and sore. To make matters even worse, despite the fact that the heat was on as high as it could go, he still kept getting chills.

But no.

Kurt wasn't sick.

Kurt. Was. Not. Sick.

After they left Lima they would be going out again on a double date with Mercedes and David for ice cream. While Kurt was excited Mercedes was home for the weekend, it meant that he would have to sit through the date, and not only hide feeling crappy from Blaine, but Mercedes as well, and she knew him just as well as Blaine. Therefore it would be ten times harder to hide it from both of them.

He was tired, he needed sleep, and that sleep would hopefully come tonight after their date night with Mercedes and David. He would have much rather stayed at home, curled up on the couch, and going in and out of sleep while watching television. It would be Project Runway if Kurt was the only one in the living room but if Blaine was in there it probably would have been The Bachelorette, something Blaine could watch for hours on end if Kurt let him.

If he rested on the couch and watched TV for a while, then he could work on some homework, he could maybe actually go to bed before two in the morning, and then if he felt better he could dedicate the rest of the weekend to completing his work. And if not, well... Well, Kurt would just have to continue moving away when Blaine tried to touch his feverish cheek (something Kurt had never realized his boyfriend did so much until he tried to avoid it) and coughing into a hand towel in the bathroom to muffle the noise. Because this whole holding in coughs was hurting his chest and Kurt was not a big fan of that. It brought back memories from when his chest _really_ hurt.

"I can't believe I agreed to this."

"I can't believe you did either to be completely honest." Kurt said, pulling up to the curb outside of his old house after what seemed like a long two-day drive.

"It's unbelievably hard to say no to Carole." Blaine sighed. "Why couldn't you have had an evil stepmother like in the Disney movies?"

Kurt shut the car off and rubbed his face, trying to wake himself up some. The fact that he hadn't felt great for a few days coupled with his serious lack of sleep was taking a toll on him, and causing him to feel tired. Tired and uncharacteristically quiet. Then again, talking less meant feeling the urge to cough less.

"We don't have to stay for a long time, right? We can just eat and go?"

"Yeah, that's fine. When I went to dinner last Friday all I did was stay for dinner. Dad was fine with it." Kurt pushed his car door open and got out, really wishing he could have just stayed sitting in his comfy seat forever. "If anything happens, we'll leave. Right then. But I'm sure nothing will happen. Carole wants this to be over and I think Dad does too."

Blaine got out of the car and reached for Kurt's hand, walking up with him. "Just so you know, I'm only doing this for you."

"I know." Kurt gave Blaine a small smile and pretended to pull out his cell phone, pretending he hadn't seen Blaine's outstretched hand. He knew that if Blaine would instantly find out about his fever if they did hold hands and he couldn't have that. So far the forces had really been working with him. If Blaine hadn't been so anxious about this dinner and seeing Burt, he would have definitely noticed that Kurt wasn't feeling good. Kurt wasn't sure whether Blaine not noticing was good or bad.

"Hey, dudes!" Finn said, opening the door as soon as they reached it.

"No, no, no, Melody!" Carole was exclaiming from across the room, running towards a standing Melody. The little baby had heaved herself up using a stepping stool and was trying to knock it over.

"She's doesn't weight enough to knock it over." Finn snorted, and then his eyes widened in horror as the small stool toppled over. "Uh oh. I'm in trouble now."

"You are not allowed to watch her any more, Finn!" Carole snapped, picking up a now wailing Melody. "I don't know how many times I have to tell Burt to take that stupid thing away!"

"Is she okay?" Kurt rushed over, headache completely forgotten.

"Yes, yes, she just scared herself. She's keeps trying to stand up on this and keeps knocking it over! It needs to be put away!"

Melody, still crying, reached her hands out for her brother.

"Oh, c'mere, beautiful." Kurt cooed, gently taking her. He used his free hand to wipe the tears off of her pudgy cheeks and from under her eyes. "Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. Did the big, bad, stupid stool scare you?"

"Big, bad, stupid stool?" Finn rolled his eyes, not even bothering to check on her.

"Shut up." Kurt snapped, kissing Melody's cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a very adorable hug, still wailing loudly only now doing so right in his ear. "Oh, Mellie, you're okay. You're okay. Don't cry."

"You aren't allowed alone with her if you're not going to watch her, Finn." Carole said, sounding much calmer than she had a minute before but still looking very displeased with her son. "What if the stool had fallen the other way onto her? And just because we don't have a lot of small stuff out doesn't mean she can run free around the entire room. She's a child, not a dog! She's very curious and keeps trying to put things in her mouth and—"

"Technically she can't run yet. She can't even walk." Finn pointed out, interrupting her. "She can barely even stand on her own. That's why she keeps using the stool."

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you." Carole sighed, speaking over Melody's now quieter whines. She went to hug Kurt and then hugged Blaine. "Dinner should be done soon, boys."

Blaine reached over, tickling Melody's belly. Her sobs immediately subsided, mostly out of shock, and then she looked down at her stomach curiously before looking up at Blaine and kicking her tiny foot out in his direction. Blaine smiled and tickled down her leg until he grabbed her foot. "What are you crying for, pumpkin?"

She reached out her tiny hand and Finn leaned over, popping a pacifier into her mouth instead of handing it to her. "That's what she wanted. At first I thought she wanted to shake my hand, but apparently she just wants the mute button."

"Uh oh. Melody has a mute button." Kurt laughed. "Do you want to go to Blaine, Mellie?"

She just tightened her arms around Kurt's neck, hiding her face in his shoulder.

"I think she's comfortable." Blaine laughed. "She likes her big brother."

Kurt snuggled her. "I still say we take her home, Blaine. It'll be at least ten minutes before they notice. That will give us a decent head start."

"I think Mom would notice earlier than that." Finn said back, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. "She's always holding Melody and playing with her."

"I can still try." Kurt cooed to Melody. "Blaine and I can play house. Sweetie, do you want to come home with Blaine and I? Hmm? We don't have mean stools that scare you."

"Blaine and Kurt don't have enough time to play house. They have homework to do. And work. Blaine pointed out. "Now if you cut down on a few classes, Kurt might have time to play house on his own."

Kurt sighed and didn't respond. He was tempted to do exactly that. He knew it was too late in the semester but he was just so tired and so exhausted. Tired and exhausted just didn't seem to cover how tired he was—which was saying something considering they both meant the same thing. On top of being tired he didn't feel good at all—which he hoped was from just being tired. He doubted it, though, seeing as he kept getting the urge to cough, since he'd had an on and off fever since the day before, and the fact that his muscles kept hurting.

Kurt couldn't get sick.

He didn't have enough time.

He had too much to do, and the more he thought about it the more he wished they _hadn_ _'_ _t_ come to this dinner because he could be working on homework or studying for that huge test he had Monday.

Blaine's hand rested on Kurt's lower back and he handed Melody off to Carole, who was apparently now standing right in front of him.

"Let's get you some food, sweetie." Carole cooed to Melody, taking her back into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked quietly. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing. I've just got a lot of homework." Kurt said, which wasn't a complete lie. He had been mainly thinking about that. Sort of. That and the fact that his impending illness was just slightly problematic.

Blaine went to touch his cheek but Kurt moved away quickly, forcing a smile. All he needed was Blaine to know he had a fever. Then he wouldn't be able to get anything done all weekend. "Let's get some food."

"Kurt…" Blaine began.

"I'm really hungry." Kurt said in what he hoped was a firm voice. He looked at Blaine, staring right into his eyes, and spoke in a quieter voice. "Can we just eat? Please? Get this thing over with? We both want to go home."

Blaine sighed and grabbed his hand, leading them into the kitchen. Kurt heard Blaine take in a deep breath when he saw Burt, obviously mentally preparing himself.

Kurt sat at the table and watched curiously as Burt was overly nice to Blaine, who very looked uncomfortable. It was weird. Kurt had never seen Burt try to be so nice to someone.

After everyone was seated, the room fell silent. Carole tried to start conversation a few times—maybe more than a few— but it was just too awkward. The room was filled with an almost unbearable tension. Kurt didn't feel good, Blaine felt uncomfortable, Burt looked uncomfortable and as though he felt guilty, and Finn—who probably didn't even know about the fight between Blaine and Burt—looked confused.

 _This_ _is_ _what_ _I_ _'_ _m_ _doing_ _instead_ _of_ _working_ _on_ _school_ _work._ _Eating_ _and_ _staring_ _at_ _everyone_ _in_ _a_ _room,_ _feeling_ _awkward._ _Great_ , Kurt thought to himself as he sighed quietly. While he appreciated Blaine's attempt, it was obvious that his boyfriend wasn't ready to do this. And Kurt couldn't handle putting him through this any longer than absolutely necessary.

He carefully watched Blaine and the second his plate was empty, Kurt pushed his own aside and stood. "Well, we've got to go. I promised Blaine we'd be out of here by seven. We're going out with Mercedes." He lied. It was only a half lie, really. They _were_ going out with Mercedes and David—but they would be meeting much later on, somewhere between ten and eleven. "And you know it takes me five hours to pick out an outfit."

"Are you sure you can't stay any longer?" Carole asked sadly.

"Sorry. We really do need to go back. We have to get ready. We're going to this fancy theater and watching an adaptation of Les Mis." Okay. Replace fancy theater with ice cream parlor and watching shows with walking downtown and then this would have been accurate. But somehow he didn't see his dad and Carole thinking he was getting ready for _that_.

"Oh." Carole forced a smile. "Well that sounds nice. I hope you boys have a lot of fun."

"We'll try." This time it was Blaine that spoke, in a very soft voice. "Thank you for dinner."

Carole shot Burt a look; it was one that clearly said Burt would be sleeping on the couch tonight. She stood and went to hug both boys. She wrapped her arms around Kurt in a tight hug and touched his cheek before pulling away. "You feel a little warm, hon."

_Damn. She is too good at this._

"I'll make sure to get into bed early tonight." Kurt said smoothly. "I promise."

"Alright. You really should because you don't want to go getting sick."

"I know." Kurt gave her a small smile and looked to Blaine, who was busy talking animatedly with Finn about some new cartoon that was airing. If Blaine had heard he 'felt a little warm,' Kurt would have been holed up in his room for the entire weekend by force of the shorter boy. Thankfully all things childish preoccupied Blaine.

Carole gave him one last hug before going and wrapping her arms around Blaine. "Thank you for coming this week, sweetheart. It means a lot to everyone."

Blaine gave Carole a weak smile and hugged her back. "You're welcome."

"You boys stay safe tonight since you'll be out late, okay? And you two take care of each other." She said.

"We will." Both Kurt and Blaine said together.

"I'll call you tomorrow." Blaine said, giving Carole a small wave as Kurt hugged his father goodbye.

"Make sure he's getting rest." Carole said, pointing at Kurt. "He looks sleepy."

"I plan on it." Blaine nodded and hugged Carole again before going to the door with Kurt. "Bye ."

After Burt and Carole said their goodbyes, (the exchange between Burt and Blaine very awkward, while on that subject) the boys made their way out to the car.

"Want me to drive back?" Blaine asked, squeezing Kurt's hand. "You look like you need a nap anyway."

"No, I can—." Kurt trailed off and blinked at Blaine a few times. Because a nap actually sounded _amazing_. "Would you mind?"

"Not at all." Blaine smiled and opened the passenger door for Kurt after taking his keys. "You look like you could use some sleep."

Kurt climbed into the car and buckled his seat belt, yawning. "That was pretty rough, wasn't it?"

"It was." Blaine sighed, getting into the car and backing out. "I've never seen your dad try to be so nice before. It was kind of unsettling, to be honest."

"Don't worry. We won't go next weekend." Kurt promised.

* * *

"I just don't get it. How can they _date_ if they've only met, like, four times?" Blaine went on as he stared into their closet—yes, by this point both of the closets were _theirs_ because they had too much stuff to keep in one individually and Blaine was just really lazy sometimes— and tried to figure out what to wear.

"Why do you care? If they like each other they like each other." Kurt sighed, rubbing his forehead since Blaine wasn't in the same room with him. Sleep. That's all he wanted. And then maybe the dark circles would disappear from under his eyes. He was not one to admit defeat generally but maybe his dad, Blaine, and Carole had been right all along. Maybe he really was trying to take on too much.

"It sounds to me that they _like_ the physical attraction and not the person." Blaine said, letting out an uncharacteristic snort that reminded Kurt of the fact that Blaine's best friends were two straight guys.

"Well, what's wrong with—." Kurt, who was in the bathroom staring at his dark circles under his eyes and not quite re-fixing his hair, realized exactly what Blaine had said and poked his head out to stare at his boyfriend. "Wait. What did you say?"

"They're fooling around." Blaine, who was standing shirtless and frowning at his closet, shrugged as if it was old news. "I have nothing to wear. I need to get new clothes."

Kurt gasped, and it surprisingly had nothing to do with the opportunity of taking Blaine _shopping_. There was no way that _Mercedes_ would fool around with someone she had been dating mere weeks. Plus, when did they have time to fool around? "No! She isn't!"

"Yes."

"B-But they've only met a few times!" Kurt sputtered. That settled it. He and Mercedes would be having a sleepover. Mercedes was only in town for the weekend and this _had_ to be discussed.

" _Why_ _do_ _you_ _care?_ _If_ _they_ _like_ _each_ _other,_ _they_ _like_ _each_ _other._ " Blaine mimicked, grabbing a green long sleeved shirt and tugging it on.

"You're lying."

"I am not! It's all David talks about. Apparently their almost sex was better than any sex-sex that he's had. I just think it's gross. We started dating in March and didn't even have sex until August after your birthday. And we hadn't even fooled around before that unless you count humping… And we _knew_ each other and, you know, just…"

Kurt blinked a few times and then straightened. "Wait a minute. If David talks about his almost sex life, do you?"

Blaine snorted and messed up Kurt's hair. "Not really."

" _Not_ _really_?" Kurt swatted Blaine's hand away, looking less than pleased. "What does _not_ _really_ mean, Blaine Anderson?"

"Well they knew when we first had sex… I complain when I'm not getting any—like last week, for example—but I don't tell them details or anything. Just like I ignore them when they try to tell me details. I think it's gross."

"You better not tell details." Kurt mumbled, going back to fix his hair. He had been debating just leaving it but seeing as Blaine had revisited his old habits of harassing Kurt's head, Kurt was going to have to completely redo it.

"You look tired." Blaine surveyed, following him. "Actually, you looked tired at dinner too."

"I am tired." Kurt said, and mentally added, _and_ _I_ _really_ _don_ _'_ _t_ _feel_ _good._ "You really don't talk about our sex life, right?"

"No." Blaine said, very honestly. "Like I told you. I told them when we first had sex and I complain when I don't get sex. I don't talk about it anything other than that. It's private. I know you wouldn't like them knowing details. Besides, it should just be between us."

Kurt gave him a smile.

Blaine reached out, touching Kurt's face. "You're pretty warm, Kurt. Are you feeling okay?"

"I think it's the lights." Kurt said smoothly, using some of Blaine's hair gel to sculpt his hair into the perfect style.

"You sure? You were pretty quiet all through dinner too." Blaine asked, moving his hand to Kurt's forehead.

 _Please_ _tell_ _me_ _to_ _just_ _get_ _into_ _bed._ _Tell_ _me_ _and_ _I_ _'_ _ll_ _do_ _it_ , Kurt silently pleaded. He sighed. "I'm fine, Blaine. I'm just tired and I've been standing in front of this mirror too long."

Blaine squeezed his arm and then kissed his cheek affectionately. "Hopefully they won't want to hang out too long. I've got a three-page paper to work on. This professor is killing me with close readings. I'm sorry. It's impossible to do a three page close reading of a two stanza poem that looks like it could have been written by a toddler."

Kurt laughed and rolled his eyes, inwardly kicking himself. Of course Blaine wasn't trying to make him stay home. How many times had Kurt promised to take care of himself? How many times had he been snappy with Blaine for trying to protect him too much? This is exactly what Kurt had asked of him. This was Kurt's own fault. He had nobody to blame here but himself. "You always seem to manage."

"I always seem to bullshit my way through with sentences that just so happen to flow together in a way that keeps their attention." Blaine shrugged. "Come on. Your hair looks fine, you look amazing. You _always_ look amazing. Let's just go out tonight with Mercedes and David. It will be fun."

"You remember how awkward Mercedes felt that day at Breadstix? The day we kept talking about 'gay things'? This is going to be like that for us, isn't it?" Kurt asked, allowing Blaine to pull him out of the house and down towards Blaine's BMW. "That or they'll make out in front of us the whole time."

"I think it's going to be ice cream with friends and possibly a walk in town." Blaine shrugged, opening the car door for Kurt. "I don't think anyone will be bored or anything. And I don't see David making out with someone like that."

Kurt leaned against Blaine, head rested on his shoulder and his hand balling up some of Blaine's shirt. He took a deep breath and relaxed against him, wishing they were on the couch and that he could just curl up and sleep contently in his boyfriend's arms.

"Kurt, are you that tired?"

"I'm pretty tired." Kurt mumbled into his shoulder. "But mostly you just smell really nice."

Blaine laughed loudly. "C'mon, it's cold out here. Get in the car. You can smell me all you want when we get back home."

Kurt stepped away and got into the car, leaning over to push open the driver side door for Blaine. "Consider yourself lucky I'm letting you drive after Wednesday."

"That was not my fault. She almost hit me, not the other way around." Blaine scoffed, starting the car and backing out.

"For someone who is such a careful driver, Blaine, this is the second time in 4 months that you've almost killed me. Yet I've _never_ almost killed you, now, have I?" Kurt said, grabbing Blaine's hand. "Hmm?"

"Shut up, Kurt." Blaine laughed. "You try to kill me every day you let that damn dog out of his cage."

"That's right." Kurt nodded. "I'm really just hoping you'll die and then Kreacher and I will live off of your money forever."

"Oh, is that so?" Blaine playfully punched Kurt's arm. "Is that what this is about?"

"You didn't think it was your hair or eyes or _personality_ , God forbid, did you?" Kurt grinned.

"I have an amazing personality, thank you very much." Blaine scoffed.

"Yes, yes, and everyone loves your smile. You, me, and the receptionist at the dentist office were made well aware a few weeks ago, Blaine. "

"I'm glad that's cleared up." Blaine said, a rather smug smile on his face.

Kurt shook his head and fell silent, head leaning against the window. Blaine looked at him every few minutes, looking hesitant but clearly avoiding doing anything that may have appeared 'protective.'

The boys remained silent on the way to the ice cream shop, Blaine not wanting to annoy Kurt and Kurt not wanting to lie to Blaine. When they pulled into a parking space in the front, Kurt sat up straight and looked inside. Through the window they could see David and Mercedes seated and laughing about something.

"See? Look. They look happy." Kurt pointed. "Clearly not just sex."

"But it's long distance. It won't work." Blaine argued.

"You don't know that." Kurt said quietly, taking his seat belt off. "You should probably stop making your opinion known to David though. It's really not either of our business."

" _It_ _'_ _s_ _really_ _not_ _either_ _of_ _our_ _business_." Blaine muttered after Kurt was out of the car with the door closed. "Not your business my ass. I'm not the one who intends to sleep over with her just to find out about just how far they've gotten. Puh."

* * *

It was hard to focus on David and Blaine's chattering when his head hurt more with each step they took. Of course Cincinnati was a wonderful, busy city. Kurt liked it and normally he would have really enjoyed this after ice cream walk, but all Kurt could think of was his bed.

"You haven't talked much." Mercedes nudged him, finally moving away from David's side.

"Just tired."

How many times had Kurt said that in the last three hours? Too many to count.

"Tired my butt. Boy, you've got huge circles under your eyes, you're pale, and any time one of those two over there laugh loudly you cringe. Not to mention you keep trying to stifle coughs. You're sick." Mercedes scoffed.

"I'm not sick." Kurt muttered. "Just a little stressed out. Midterms are coming up and I'm tired."

"Kurt, you better be taking care of yourself. You look like you've lost some weight."

"Don't talk so loud. If you say that Blaine will jump on the band wagon. All I need is him harassing me." Kurt said, gently elbowing her. "I'm fine."

"If you're so fine, why don't you talk with us instead of looking like one of those zombies from the scary movies?"

If looks could kill, Mercedes would have dropped dead on the spot. "I don't look like a zombie."

"Well you don't look good. You look like you need about 5 meals, three days of sleep, and some antibiotics for that cough you're about to hide."

As if on cue Kurt coughed into his sleeve, glaring.

"Alright, here is how it's going to go down. I'm going to fake a headache so David will take me home. And you're going to get into bed, eat some soup, take some Advil, and go to bed. I go home Tuesday. Sunday we're gonna hang out and if you aren't better—by my standards, not yours—then I'm telling Blaine to take you to a doctor."

"You're not my mother." Kurt muttered.

"Guys, I think I need to go home." Mercedes said, lowering her voice in an attempt to sound sick. "I just got a really bad headache. I'm sorry."

"My car's right up here anyway." David said, putting a hand on her back. "See you guys later."

"I hope you feel better, Mercedes." Blaine said, frowning.

"Yeah. Bye, 'Cedes." Kurt waved, mentally reminding himself to bake some cookies for her very soon.

* * *

"Blaine?" Kurt called out, still half asleep. "Blaine?"

He heard loud knocking on the door, clearly the thing that had woken him up, and sat up. There was a note right next to his phone in Blaine's messy handwriting that read ' _Someone_ _from_ _work_ _called_ _last_ _night_ _and_ _asked_ _me_ _to_ _come_ _in_ _after_ _you_ _went_ _to_ _bed._ _Sorry._ _I_ _'_ _ll_ _bring_ _dinner_ _on_ _the_ _way_ _home_ _and_ _cheesecake._ _Oh,_ _and,_ _I_ _put_ _Kreacher_ _back_ _in_ _the_ _bed._ _And_ _fed_ _the_ _fish._ _And_ _washed_ _the_ _dishes._ _And_ _made_ _you_ _lunch._ _It_ _'_ _s_ _in_ _the_ _fridge_ _so_ _you_ _can_ _heat_ _it._ '

Kurt rolled his eyes and read on, the next lines scratched out. ' _Also,_ _don_ _'_ _t_ _work_ _too_ _hard_ _today_ _because_ _you_ _kept_ _coughing_ _last_ _night._ '

And then, unscratched, " _I_ _'_ _ll_ _see_ _you_ _tonight._ _Love_ _you_."

So Blaine knew he was coughing at least.

Then again, it was hard to cover up anything when one was asleep.

There was more knocks and then his cell phone lit up.

"Aunt Taylor?"

"Are you at home, sweetie?" his aunt asked.

"Oh God." Kurt hung up and, still clad in his pajamas and hair going everywhere, rushed to open his door. "Taylor!"

"Surprise!" his aunt exclaimed, hugging him. "Kurt Elijah Hummel, were you sleeping at three in the afternoon?"

"It's three?" Kurt's eyes widened in horror.

All the work that he had to get done.

And he'd slept the whole day away? He'd passed out around midnight the night before and had slept _fifteen_ _hours_? "Three?"

Taylor stepped back and looked at him. "Oh, honey, you look exhausted."

"I've been busy with school." Kurt admitted as Taylor hugged him again.

"Well you're half way through the semester!" she smiled at him. "It'll be all worth it after you graduate and become famous."

"I guess that will depend on if I get a lucky break. But I'm trying to be optimistic." Kurt laughed a bit and coughed into his arm. "What are you doing here?"

"Driving through. I had to meet someone about possibly opening the store in Florida and I thought I'd surprise you on the way home. Is the love of your life home?"

"No. He got called into work." Kurt sighed. "He'll he home soon though."

"Oh, where does he work? Maybe I can stop by and see him."

"On campus in Lexington."

"Oh… well maybe not." Taylor laughed. "Damn, that boy drives all the way there for work?"

"Two Saturdays a month he does an open to close. He gets paid mileage on Saturdays too." Kurt explained. "He has gaps in between classes and he works after sometimes too, but his older brother is nice and gives him a lot of money since his parents… well, you know."

"How's he doing? How are both of you doing? Everything going well?"

"He's doing really good. He's been hanging out with David, one of his best friends, a lot. And last weekend he stayed in Kentucky after work and went to one of the basketball games with some of his friends from school. And his grades are amazing as always. He's a walking Smart Machine or something. It's a bit ridiculous." Kurt said.

"Oh, good, he's got friends at school too?"

"Yeah. He talks to them on the phone sometimes. They all sound very loud." _And_ _annoying_ , Kurt mentally added. "I think it's mostly guys he works with at the bookstore. He could make friends with anyone, though. He's very likeable."

"He seems that way." Taylor reached over and hugged him once again. "Kurt, I miss you so much. And I don't think we've talked on the phone in a month at least. I know you've been busy, though. It just sucks that I don't hear from my Kurtsie. Can I see some of your stuff?"

"It's mostly sketches. All of the real stuff we do mostly stays in the studio. But yeah." Kurt coughed a bit and made his way to the kitchen, returning with his tablet and sketchbooks.

Taylor flipped through, gasping at nearly every sketch. "Oh, Kurt, you're going to go far, honey. I know you are. These are all amazing. _Amazing_."

Kurt, who was sitting and sort of slouching, sat up a little straighter and smiled. Of course Blaine always said this stuff, but Blaine saw the sketches every day and, as Kurt's boyfriend, he was obligated. Maybe Taylor was slightly obligated too but he could see by the expressions on her face that she genuinely meant it. "Really?"

"Yes, honey. Really. Although there are _so_ _many_. God, the amount of time these must take… They're so beautiful, Kurt. Really and truly."

Kurt offered her another smile and looked up as the door open.

"I hate, hate, _hate_ when they make me take deposits alone. It's just not safe and—oh." Blaine trailed off, eyes widening.

"Hello there." Taylor smiled at him. "Oh, look at you. Have you gotten taller?"

A positively adorable smile spread across Blaine's face. " _Have_ _I?_ _"_

"I love him." Taylor said, looking at Kurt. "You two better never break up. He's the most adorable boy I have ever met."

"It's the smile, apparently." Kurt rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Blaine. "They made you take the deposit again?"

"Yes! And it was $10,000. What happened to getting books at the beginning of the semester?" Blaine complained, shaking his head.

"Do you work at a bookstore?" Taylor asked. "I like you even more. Come sit by me, tell me every single detail of your life, and let me love you."

Blaine let out a loud laugh and came to sit by them, looking completely unfazed—something which always thrilled Kurt, because Kurt just loved that Blaine got along with his family so well.

"It's a textbook store. I would like to work in a regular bookstore but I'm fine doing this for now. If I can get a schedule that's easy to work around next semester I might get a job in Ohio though." Blaine explained.

"If you lived in New York I'd give you a job. We'd be buddies. Everyone that works in my store… well, they aren't idiots… but they're idiots." Taylor laughed.

"What kind of bookstore is it? Like, do you own a Barnes and Noble?"

"God, no. I'd never get involved with Corporate America. It's just a small bookstore in a corner shop. It's about eight blocks from my house. Daniel Radcliffe comes in all the time and buys books."

" _Daniel_ _Radcliffe_?"

"Yep. And I call him Harry Potter." She shrugged. "He calls me McGonagall but I guess I deserve it. He's nice. Maybe you and Kurt can come up to New York before I sell it and see it."

"Sell it?" Blaine questioned. "Why on Earth would you do that?"

"Well I _might_ move it down to Florida." Taylor answered. "Which Kurt is okay with because it means he can go to Disney World."

Kurt, whose head had leaned to rest on Blaine's, looked up at that. "I never said I wanted you to."

"I know that. But it's a good selling point, is it not?" Taylor asked happily.

Kurt just shrugged and looked down. Of course he didn't _want_ Taylor to move. He _wanted_ Taylor to stay and patch things up with Paige, whom Kurt had _still_ yet to speak to. That's what he _wanted_. His wants weren't important here though. Taylor's were. However, he got the feeling Taylor just wanted to get half way across the country to avoid his other aunt. She was leaving a store that Kurt _knew_ she loved. No. Kurt didn't want that.

"Oh no, don't sell it." Blaine said, surprising Kurt. "With all of the bookstores closing down, don't willingly close one down even if you're thinking of moving it. Because it might not do as well in Florida. Plus, a random corner shop in Florida isn't near as cool as one in _New_ _York_. Don't sell it."

Taylor looked thoughtful and sighed, leaning back against the back of the couch. "I feel like I need a change of space."

"Take a vacation." Kurt said. "Go home and stay with your parents for a few days. Well, your mom is in Ohio. Go stay with your dad."

"Oklahoma?" Taylor scoffed. "No thanks. I love my dad and all but Oklahoma is the most boring place I've ever been to. And his new wife is _horrendous_. She's a downright bitch."

Blaine looked at her, shocked. He had never seen Taylor talking negatively about anything—unless you counted the Thanksgiving fight with Paige, but he tended not to. Taylor was generally super friendly and always seemed to be genuinely… happy. "Is she unaccepting?"

"I don't think it's got anything to do with the fact that I'm gay. She just doesn't like the fact that I may be more important to my dad than she is." Taylor shrugged.

"She was very rich and pretentious." Kurt said thoughtfully. "And your cousin's son was mean. He pushed me down."

Blaine looked at him, looking confused and concerned.

"Oh God." Taylor rolled her eyes as Kurt said slowly, "Well, I was seven."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's thigh and stood. "I'm going to get spaghetti. Anyone want some?"

"No thanks." Taylor said, giving him a sweet smile.

"I'll get some later." Kurt said, watching as Taylor began going through the pictures on his tablet. When Blaine left the room, Kurt asked very slowly, "Taylor… why do you want to sell?"

"Because it's a great opportunity. I didn't even think of it, but once they asked and started talking…"

Kurt just stared at her, head titled.

"Fine, fine. Stop with the big, blue eyes." Taylor sighed. "Sometimes you're a lot like your aunt. She can see through bullshitting too."

Kurt offered a small smile, although his head was pounding and he certainly didn't feel very happy.

"It's just hard, Kurt. I'm seeing your aunt everywhere. And before, you know, we'd clearly avoid eye contact or she'd give me a nasty look or she'd try to talk to me. Now it's like she doesn't even acknowledge me. I'm sorry. We dated for twenty years if you count both times we dated. So don't pretend you don't even recognize me."

"Have you two talked since Thanksgiving?" Kurt asked, rolling his eyes as Blaine turned on the radio in the kitchen and began to sing along to _Teenage_ _Dream_.

"No." Taylor shook her head, suddenly looking sad. "It's not that I'm being childish. I'm a grown adult. I just know that this is bothering me on a level that it shouldn't. I don't _want_ to react that way to something that someone says because that isn't me. What happened on Thanksgiving never should have happened, Kurtsie. Never. And I don't want anything else getting to that point. But I feel just as angry with her and I feel like one day we're going to go at it again."

"Maybe you two should talk." Kurt suggested.

Taylor sighed and looked down at his sketches, and then back up at him. "You look exhausted, honey. Are you taking care of yourself?"

"I'm… trying." Kurt said. He'd never been able to lie to his aunt. Never. "It's just hard. I've got so much stuff to do. I'm under a lot of pressure. It's all pressure I've put myself under, but it's still there nonetheless. And…" He trailed off.

"And what, sweetie?" she asked, setting the tablet very carefully on the coffee table with the nearly stacked sketchbooks. "What's wrong?"

"It's just so different, Taylor. Living alone with Blaine, going to school, trying to do all of these adult things… It's really hard."

"That's growing up, sweetie." She sighed softly. "I hate to break it to you, but it only gets harder."

Kurt opened his mouth to speak and abruptly closed it, biting his lip.

"Is everything okay between you and Blaine since the fight, honey?"

"We're doing a lot better since the fight… I know we said bad stuff but I think some of it needed to be said… I'm trying to be home more and spend more time with him and he's trying to give me more space when I'm home to get stuff done. It's kind of hard, though. Sometimes it's like even though we live together… we don't. Because some days we can barely talk, you know? Yeah, we sleep together…" _When_ _I_ _actually_ _get_ _to_ _sleep_ _at_ _a_ _decent_ _hour_ , Kurt mentally added. He frowned. "It really sucks. I just thought nothing would change when we moved out but it really has. I miss spending time with him. I miss just going to get ice cream and watching movies in bed and going to see musicals and shows."

"Why aren't you all spending so much time together?"

Kurt moved his tablet and grabbed the sketchbooks, flipping almost angrily through it and pointing out images. "This and this and this and _this_ _and_ _this_ _and_ _this_." He said, hating how miserable he said. "I am _always_ in class a-and if I'm not I may as well be b -because I'm always working on the school work." He took a deep breath. He didn't need to get upset. "I'm so tired. I'm tired, Taylor, and I never feel good. I don't feel good now. I slept fifteen hours. My head is killing me, I am constantly hungry but I can't seem to find time to eat. I'm surprised I find time to shower. I'm under _so_ _much_ _pressure_."

Taylor pried the sketchbooks from his hands and set them aside, then put her hands on his cheeks and made him look at her. She was silent for a few seconds, just staring at him. Finally, she spoke. " _You_ are the only one that knows your limitations, Kurt. _You_ know when it is too much, not me. But you are also the type of person that takes on an overwhelming amount of work. And then you crack under the pressure when you're so far in that you can't even see the way out. But, sweetie, you can't do that with school. You've got to find that balance."

"People keep talking about balance. I don't have balance. I don't have time for balance." Kurt said miserably.

"Then you need to make time. Drop a class."

"It's too late to drop. I'll lose my partial scholarship." Kurt sighed.

"Then you've got to make ends meet somehow." Taylor said very calmly, giving him a sad smile. "It's the end of March. You've only got a little over a month left, sweetie. Six weeks. You can do it."

Kurt looked down. "I'm so unhappy right now."

Taylor wrapped her arms around him. "You're so thin. You've got to take care of yourself, Kurtsie. You've got to eat and sleep. Your health needs to come first. Before everything else. If you aren't healthy and you get sick, then you won't be able to do _anything_."

"I can't be sick." Kurt sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "I just can't, Taylor. I don't have time for this right now. I felt like crap yesterday and I came home and I slept for 15 hours and my head is still pounding and I keep coughing." He looked up at the ceiling. "I just can't right now."

"If your body is telling you that something is wrong, then something is wrong. And that means you need to take care of it." Taylor squeezed his free hand. "I'm going to get you into bed so you can rest some more and I'm going to head back to New York, alright? You need to not worry about your school work tonight. Just lay down and try to sleep."

Kurt allowed Taylor to take him to bed and crawled in. "Can you not tell Blaine I feel so bad? I don't want him to worry."

"Why don't you want Blaine to know you're sick, sweetie? He cares about you. He'll just want you to get better." Taylor said softly.

"I just don't want to worry him is all. Not if it's just a cold."

Taylor looked hesitant as she pulled the covers up. "Fine… but I'm counting on you to get yourself feeling better. I want you to call or text me tomorrow with an update, okay?"

"Okay." Kurt sighed. "Taylor… If you're moving just because of Paige, I think you've got the… Well... Then I don't think you should do it. Because it's not good to run away from things like that. You'll regret it later."

"I know." Taylor nodded. "I've got to do some serious thinking tonight and figure out if I'm doing this completely for the wrong reasons."

Kurt nodded, blinking up at her. "Thanks for stopping by to see me."

She bent over and kissed his forehead. "Please, Kurt, just listen to me. Get yourself feeling better, work less, and take care of yourself. You're too young to put this much stress on yourself. Okay?"

Kurt nodded and snuggled under his covers, closing his eyes.

"Love you, honey." She kissed his cheek. "Feel better."

"Love you too, Taylor." Kurt said, rolling over, pulling the covers over his head, and coughing into the crook of his arm. The idea of working less was nice, of course. But that just wasn't realistic right now. He didn't understand why no body else _got_ that.


	31. Chapter 31

_ **Part One** _

Blaine instantly knew something was wrong when he walked out of his second class of the day and saw that he had _seven_ missed calls from Kurt. He felt the cold sense of dread sweep through him as his chest tighten, just like it had more than a year ago when Finn had called him in the middle of the night and told him something was wrong. Kurt was not the type to call seven times. Kurt was the type to call once and then text Blaine. But there were no texts. Blaine quickly made his way out of the building and, once he found a spot that was quieter, pushed the call button and waited anxiously for Kurt to answer.

Not even a full ring in, the call connected.

"What's wrong, babe? It's Tuesday, I'm on campus." Blaine said worriedly, narrowly avoiding being hit by a huge student on too small of a bicycle.

"Blaine, hi. This isn't Kurt obviously. Well, I assume you're Blaine."

Blaine, who had began to walk towards his next classroom building, immediately came to a halt and stood still, looking incredibly confused. Because, true to their word, that was definitely not Kurt on the phone. "Who is this?"

"We've never exactly talked or anything. This is Alec Davis. I go to school with Kurt. We worked on the—."

"What's going on?" Blaine interrupted, getting impatient. Why did he care about what they worked on? Besides, he was Kurt's _boyfriend_. Of course he knew what they were working on. He was more concerned with why Kurt was not the one on _Kurt_ _'_ _s_ phone. "Is Kurt okay? Or did he forget his phone somewhere or something?"

"No, no." The guy, Alec, said quickly. "Listen, he's… he's really sick. We had gotten out of class and he almost fell when he stood up, so I went to check on him. He's _really_ sick. We're supposed to be in class now but he can barely walk, so I…"

Blaine went from annoyed to worried in less than a second. "What's wrong with him? Does he have a fever? Has he eaten? Sometimes he forgets to eat and gets light headed, but if you—."

"It's not that." Alec said, interrupting him this time. Blaine could tell that the boy was extremely nervous. "Well, he might have a fever. He's sweating. But he's just really… he's weak and it's like he can't catch his breath. I tried to get him to let me take him to a hospital but he's very adamant about not going. He told me to call you."

"Shit, shit, shit. He was fine earlier. I don't understand. Fuck." Blaine muttered to himself, beginning to panic. What in the world was he supposed to do? "Look, I'm four hours away and I— _Shit_!"

"I don't mind to keep an eye on him. I'm just pretty worried… I got him to my place and he's sleeping right now but I really think that he needs a doctor…"

"I'm just going to skip my test." Blaine said to himself. "If I go I-71 I can get there a little quicker and—."

"No, you should take your test. I'll stay with him. I don't think he's so sick that you need to speed out here and—." Alec said quickly.

"You don't understand." Blaine said sharply. "It's his lung. It's not very… It's complicated. Look, I'm going to go talk to my professor and I'll call you when I leave campus. Keep Kurt's phone by you and if he gets any worse I want you to call his dad, explain, and tell him that I'm on my way from school. Please just… keep an eye on him. If he… Just…"

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him and I'll call you if anything happens. Don't drive too recklessly, okay?"

"Yeah. Listen, thanks for this, Alec." Blaine said, voice shaking a bit. "I really appreciate it."

"Anytime."

* * *

Blaine hadn't driven so fast since… well, since the last time he was rushing back to Ohio to get to his sick boyfriend, although last time the circumstances had been quite worse. There were four or five times he could have _swore_ a police officer was about to pull him over, but luckily this did not happen. He didn't know exactly what would happen, given the last time he'd been pulled over. All he knew was that his grandmother had to work damn hard to cover it up, but he still didn't know what would happen if he were to get into trouble again.

He had to drive around downtown Columbus a full five times before he finally found the apartment complex that Alec lived at, which had been given to him over one of the several phone calls the boys had shared in the last several hours. He didn't even waste time turning his car off, but instead just slammed the door shut and ran up the flight of stairs to the third floor.

When he found 53A, be knocked on the door loudly, anxiously shifting his weight between his legs and growing impatient very quickly. Why was it taking so long? What was going on?

The door opened a few seconds later and the tall blonde guy that Blaine recognized from Facebook pictures (yes, he looked better in person, Blaine had to admit) was standing in front of him, almost looking as anxious as he felt. "Hey, Blaine. He's in here." He said, stepping aside so Blaine could come in. He quickly shut the door behind Blaine and turned, leading him into the apartment. "He's mostly been sleeping since I got him here, but my boyfriend is in med school and I called him. He said to give him plenty of water and keep fluids in him if he absolutely refused to let me taken him to a hospital—and believe me, I've tried asking him every single time he's woken up. He refuses to go to the hospital and I can barely get him to drink water."

"He's very stubborn." Blaine said anxiously, following Alec towards a bedroom. He didn't care about Alec's med school boyfriend. He cared about getting to his own sick boyfriend who needed him. Who needed a doctor if not a hospital. Nothing else mattered and he was definitely not in the mood for small talk.

Alec pushed the door, which was already more than half open, against the wall and let Blaine in. He was half in when he saw Kurt laying on Alec's bed, on top of the covers, curled in a ball and gasping for breath.

Blaine rushed over, bending down and brushing some of Kurt's sweat matted hair out of his face. If his stomach had been in knots on the drive there, he didn't know how to explain how it felt _now_ after seeing Kurt like this. "Oh God, Kurt. Baby? Wake up, honey. Hey, hey, open your eyes."

Kurt blinked at him with large blue eyes, looking dazed. "Blaine?"

"Hey, my love." Blaine cupped his face in his hands, somewhat relieved that Kurt was now staring back at him. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

"Don't feel good." Kurt moaned. He was extremely pale and kept gasping for breath.

"That much is obvious." Alec said from behind Blaine, voice somehow concerned and sarcastic at the same time. "But I don't think that's what Blaine means."

"Don't make me g-go to the doctor, Blaine. Please. I just n-need rest."

"No." Blaine shook his head and grabbed Kurt's cell phone. He hadn't talked to Kurt's father much since their argument in February. In fact, the _only_ time they had talked was Friday night dinner, which had only been four days before. He had no clue what to do, though. Kurt didn't even have a doctor in Cincinnati yet, let alone Columbus. Blaine _had_ to call him.

"Hey, kiddo. Get done with school early?" Burt asked on the third ring.

"Mr. Hummel, it's Blaine." Blaine said urgently, stepping out of the room after signaling Alec to sit on the bed with Kurt. "Kurt's sick and I don't know what to do. He can barely breathe or talk, he's pale, and I just drove four hours from campus to get here but Kurt doesn't even have a doctor in Columbus. I don't know if I trust driving him all the way to Lima. I don't know what will happen. I just don't know what to do. He was fine earlier today. Last night he didn't feel great but—."

"Bud, hold on. I'm going to give the phone to Carole and call on her phone to see where you can take Kurt." Burt interrupted his freak out. "Just calm down, take a deep breath, and talk to Carole, alright?"

"Please hurry." Blaine said anxiously before he heard the phone being switched off.

"Hon, is everything alright?" Carole asked, voice starting off muffled but becoming clearer as she repositioned the phone.

"Kurt's really sick and I don't know what to do. I just got to CCAD to pick him and he can barely breathe." Blaine said quickly, walking back into the room. Kurt was now sitting up and hunched over, head between his knees and coughing loudly. Alec was sitting next to him, looking concerned and patting his back while watching Blaine.

"Probably what will happen is you'll take him to a doctor." Carole said calmly. "They'll give him a breathing treatment and then tell you where to go from there. They'll probably just send you and him home with some antibiotics or steroids to get him feeling better."

Blaine sat on Kurt's other side, fingers running through Kurt's hair. "Oh baby… I'm sorry you don't feel good." He bent over, pressing a kiss to the back of Kurt's head.

Kurt scooted towards him, burrowing his face in the crook of Blaine's neck. Blaine was shocked to feel just how hot Kurt was—he was burning up.

"Kid, it's me now." Burt said a few seconds later, causing Blaine to wonder if Burt had heard him being affectionate with Kurt. "I've got an address for you. It's supposed to be fairly close to CCAD. They said to bring him right on in. I'm going to call ahead with the insurance information and you boys should be good to go unless you don't have $35 for the co-pay. Alright? Sound okay?"

"I've got it. I'll call you the second we leave the doctor's office." Blaine said quickly, sounding relieved. He wrote the address quickly on the palm of his hand and then hung up the phone, scooping Kurt up. "Shh, I've got you. We're going to the doctor, okay?"

"I don't wanna go. 'm fine." Kurt mumbled into his shoulder, weakly struggling.

"Well we're going anyway because I disagree." Blaine said firmly, repositioning him and holding on tighter. "I'll be right there. It's going to be okay."

Kurt let out an absolutely pitiful whimper before going still, having exhausted himself with his feeble fighting.

Alec stood and led Blaine towards the front door. "I put my commuter pass in his car so don't worry about it being towed."

"I hadn't even thought about that." Blaine sighed, shifting Kurt's weight onto his other arm. He began to speak again, tone serious. "Listen… Thank you for missing classes to take care of him until I could get here… I… I really appreciate that. You didn't have to."

"I know I didn't have to." Alec shrugged. "He's my friend. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. Can you or he call me or text me either way? Just to let me know he's alright?"

"If you don't hear from one of us in the next few hours, text his phone and I'll respond." Blaine nodded, shushing Kurt as he whimpered and shuffled close. "Thanks, again."

"You're welcome, Blaine. I'll talk to you later."

Blaine nodded and carried Kurt to the elevator, grateful he had left his car running because it would have been very difficult to unlock his door while holding Kurt, whom he had suspicions couldn't even stand. He opened the door and gently sat Kurt down, brushing his hair back and pressing a kiss to his feverish forehead.

"You okay, honey?" he whispered.

"Mmmh." Kurt moaned, curling against the seat and letting out a cough.

The answer didn't make Blaine feel any better.

* * *

Blaine tried to not be anxious but it was very hard. The entire ride to the doctor's office Kurt had lain in the back seat, seat belt not even on, looking half asleep with his chest rapidly rising and falling. In the twenty minutes it took him to finally be called out of the waiting room he had leaned against Blaine's chest making tiny, pitiful noises between wheezing. What really got him, though, was the look on the nurse's face after she listened to his breathing and then literally rushed out to get a breathing treatment.

"Kurt, just… just lay back, honey." Blaine, who was standing next to the bed and trying not to freak out, tried to coax Kurt into lying on the uncomfortable bed.

"N-No. I wanna go home. I just want my bed." Kurt said, weakly struggling against him. "No, Blaine. Please. No."

"I know, honey. But the doctor has to make sure I can take you home." Blaine whispered, no longer trying to get Kurt to lay back down. While he thought it would make Kurt more comfortable, he was afraid Kurt was going to hurt himself with all of the struggling. Blaine brushed his sweat-matted hair back, noticing that Kurt had somehow managed to find a way to become even paler since leaving Alec's house, increasing Blaine's anxiety even more. "Are you okay?"

Kurt gave a weak nod, finally laying back against the bed and closing his eyes.

"It's okay." Blaine whispered soothingly, rubbing his thigh in what he hoped was a comforting way. "It's okay, honey. We'll get you home and in bed soon."

The door opened and the nurse came in with a Nebulizer, looking anxious. "Alright, sweetie. I've got the medicine made up already, so sit up for me and we'll give you this breathing treatment. You've had a breathing treatment before, right?"

"He has." Blaine said, helping Kurt into a sitting position once again. The younger boy reached for the mouthpiece that the woman held out for him and put it in his mouth, taking deep breaths. Unfortunately he was all too familiar with Nebulizers and breathing treatments from his several weeks' long hospital stay the year before. His hand was shaking and Blaine put his hand over Kurt's to steady it, forcing himself to look away. "Is he okay?"

"His chest is really tight right now. I don't like it." The nurse said very calmly in an effort to not scare Kurt. "We'll just see how it sounds after this breathing treatment. I may have to get an actual doctor in here. He doesn't have asthma, right?"

"No." Blaine let his free hand go up to push back Kurt's bangs, the only thing that seemed to relax Kurt even a little bit. "He had a punctured lung though, so… so he's had some problems."

She nodded and reached for the mouthpiece when the medicine was gone, sitting it on a table. "I'm going to lift your shirt so I can listen to your breathing, okay?"

"Okay." Kurt wheezed, leaning over and nearly falling off of the bed.

"No, no, no, sweetie. You've got to sit up." She said, easing him back into a sitting position. "You're very light headed right now. You don't have a very good sense of balance."

Blaine had his arms out in front of Kurt's chest, just in case Kurt did that again. Kurt couldn't even sit properly? Had he been trying to bend over? Or had he just fallen on his own? "You can lay down soon, baby. I promise."

Kurt just whined softly, letting out a hacking cough. All Blaine could think of was Kurt the first day after he woke up from his first surgery and it had his stomach in knots. Kurt looked just as scared then as he had that day, too. Blaine didn't like thinking back to that. Mostly, though, he didn't like seeing Kurt hurting.

"Here." Blaine sat him up straight and pulled the back of Kurt's shirt up for the nurse, since Kurt kept being uncooperative and leaning back over. "Soon, I promise. I promise, my love. But you've got to sit still and do what she tells you."

Kurt took several deep breaths for the nurse. It looked like even that exhausted him.

"I still don't like the sound of it. I'm going to get the doctor." The nurse said almost immediately. "He should be finishing up. Let me catch him before he leaves."

"Alright. Thank you." Blaine said softly, moving Kurt back into a laying position so he would be more comfortable.

"I don't want to go to the hospital." Tears filled Kurt's eyes, threatening to spill over. "T-They're going to make me go back, a-aren't they?"

"Shh, shh." Blaine moved so he was leaning over Kurt's head, bending down to kiss him. After he pulled away from the kiss he tilted Kurt's chin up so Kurt was looking into his eyes. "Don't cry."

"I c-can barely breathe. I-I'm… Blaine…" Kurt turned his head, raising his arm up and coughing into his shoulder.

"Shh. Don't work yourself up." Blaine cooed. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

Kurt wiped his eyes, attempted to take a deep breath, and began coughing again loudly.

"Kurt, Kurt, Kurt… oh god. Sit up, here." Blaine sat him up and rubbed his back. Clearly there was going to be no way to keep Kurt comfortable and laying down didn't seem to help. Nothing seemed to help, but all Blaine wanted was for Kurt to feel better. At least a bit comfortable, if not better.

An old man came in, smiling. "Hello, Kurt. I'm going to take a listen and see what's going on, if that's okay?"

Kurt nodded, wiping his teary eyes and trying to calm himself down.

"Let's get this shirt off for a few minutes." The doctor came over and carefully helped Kurt out of his shirt. "Take a deep breath for me, Kurt."

Kurt did as told, squeezing his eyes shut.

"No, that's not good." The doctor muttered, and patted Kurt on the back roughly before listening again a few more times. He looked up at Blaine, standing up straight. "Do you live with him?"

"Yes. I'm his boyfriend." Blaine explained, attempting to pay attention to both Kurt and the doctor at the same time. "His parents live in Lima."

"He's got a lot of fluid in his lungs. It sounds like pneumonia." The doctor said, making eye contact with Blaine. "I won't know for sure without an X-ray. What you need to do is take him to the hospital. I see he's got a scar on his chest? Do you know what that is from? It looks fairly new."

"His lung was punctured last… last fall." Blaine took a deep breath, unable to even recall the month at this point. He was too nervous to think properly. This wasn't sounding good. He knew he was going to have to call Burt, but it was looking like he was going to have to _see_ Burt too.

"You'll need to have him admitted." The doctor said instantly, causing tears to fill Kurt's eyes again. "That makes it a little more urgent."

"Is he going to be okay?" Blaine asked, watching the nurse help Kurt back into his shirt. Kurt made very slow movements, looking as if he was going to just pass out while also looking like he was going to cry.

"It's typically not very good for someone with lung conditions to catch pneumonia." The doctor answered calmly. "I'm sure it'll be manageable… but he needs to go to the hospital. Do you know where one is?"

"Uh, yeah. Yes." Blaine nodded, feeling as though it were harder for _him_ to breathe now. "The… Uh… His dad said they called with the information and I have a card for the co-pay."

"They can handle that up front." The doctor patted Kurt's shoulder. "You boys drive safe. I hope you feel better, Kurt."

"C'mon, my love." Blaine eased Kurt off of the bed. "Can you walk?"

"Mmh." Kurt leaned heavily against Blaine as they made their way out of the room¸ some of Blaine's shirt sleeve balled in his hand. The heat was radiating off of Kurt even more than it had been nearly an hour before. When they reached the window to pay Blaine very quickly handed his card over and signed the receipt, just wanting to get Kurt to the hospital so they could help him breathe better. He could deal with his boyfriend looking sick, but the sounds he was making as he struggled to breathe shot straight through Blaine's heart.

Blaine took a step to move from the counter and Kurt stumbled, nearly falling over. "Okay, I'm going to carry you, honey. I'm going to pick you up."

"Is he okay?" The receptionist asked, quickly standing as if to go around the counter to help them.

Kurt whimpered as Blaine picked him up, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck and burrowing his face in his shoulder. Blaine could feel the heat radiating off of him. He walked slowly to the car, careful not to jostle Kurt too much, once again reminded of Kurt's last hospital stay—only this time, he remembered bringing Kurt home, still weaker than ever, and carrying him up those steps.

"I've got to call your dad." Blaine said after getting Kurt into the passenger seat comfortably and leaning the seat back so Kurt was closer to a lying position.

"No. Don't." Kurt covered his face with his arm. "Please. I don't want him to know."

"He has a right to know his son is going to the hospital. I've got to call him, Kurt." Blaine got into the car himself and pulled out his cell phone, ignoring Kurt's weak protests. "H-Hey… yeah. No, I'm taking him to the hospital… They think its pneumonia… I think… Yeah, he's feeling pretty bad… No… To be honest, he looks worse than he did when I called last… I… Yeah." he turned to face Kurt. "Sweetie, your dad says he's going to meet us at the hospital as soon as he can, okay?"

Kurt moaned in response, not able to find the energy to even mumble an "okay."

"Yeah, that's probably best… Mhmm… We'll see you later."

…

…

"Kurt, wake up. Kurt, please. You're starting to really scare me." Blaine said, unbuckling Kurt's seat belt. It had taken him about twenty minutes to find the nearest hospital, although it wouldn't have taken him nearly as long if he had known the area. Kurt, who had seemingly fallen asleep as soon as Blaine started to drive, had not been much help. "Honey?"

"'mup." Kurt moaned.

"Kurt, you're really scaring me." Blaine whispered, easing Kurt very gently out of the car and carefully standing him up. "Are you okay? Can you breathe?"

"No worse than before, no better than before." Kurt replied, leaning against Blaine's car and closing his eyes. He let out a soft whimper when Blaine picked him up.

"I've got you." Blaine reassured him, cradling Kurt close. The younger boy didn't even attempt to wrap his arms around Blaine's neck this time, unable to find the energy. Instead he just whimpered again and leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine could feel Kurt's chest rapidly rising and falling, his breathing erratic enough to make Blaine jog the last few feet into the emergency room doors. "I've got you, my love."

He carried Kurt into the hospital and straight up to the front desk.

"Kurt Hummel? Dr. Erickson just called and said he'd be over." The receptionist asked as soon as he made it there.

"Yeah." Blaine nodded, feeling a sudden sense of relief wash over him. They had made it. He had gotten Kurt to a hospital. A hospital with multiple doctors. They would take care of Kurt and everything would be fine. "This is him."

She stood and opened a door connecting the waiting room and the room behind her desk. "Bring him back here. I'm going to give him another breathing treatment. It may be quite a wait and the doctor said he'd need one right away. There was a pretty bad car wreck on the highway, so the doctors are a little overwhelmed right now."

"Thanks." Blaine said, carrying Kurt through the door that the nurse held open for him. He eased Kurt onto a chair, making sure he was seated properly and could hold himself up before stepping away..

"Poor thing. You look like you feel terrible." The lady sighed, setting it up. "We'll get you better in no time, sweet pea."

Kurt attempted a weak smile which came out a grimace. He let his head rest back against the wall while the receptionist set up his breathing treatment, eyes closed.

"Alright, Kurt, here we go. You just do this until every last drop is gone, alright?"

"Mhmm." Kurt nodded a bit, sitting up. He took the cup from her and breathed in the medicine as Blaine rubbed his arm soothingly.

"Has he been like this for a while?" The lady asked, pulling out a clip board.

"He seemed fine when he left for school this morning. He looked pretty tired, but he was breathing normally." Blaine responded.

"And how long has he been wheezing?"

"At least two hours. His friend took him home from school. He was pretty close to wheezing when I get there, so he may have been before. I don't know. Do I need to call him?"

"No, no, that's fine." She said, shaking her head and glancing at the cup of medicine Kurt was breathing through which was half full. Kurt's eyes kept closing and opening quickly, making Blaine wonder if he was closing them himself or if he was just having that much trouble staying awake. "Doing okay, sweet pea?"

Kurt gave a small nod, taking a particularly deep breath. He winced as his chest rose, coughing a bit into the cup.

"Has he been sick since his surgery last fall?"

"Not like this, no. He got Strep but he didn't even really show symptoms." Blaine said, eyes not leaving Kurt.

"And has he been getting plenty of rest, plenty of liquids, eating healthily?"

"No."

This was Kurt that answered. By time it registered, though, Kurt had already lifted the cup back to his mouth and was breathing in the medicine.

"Kurt, I cannot stress enough how important it is to take care of yourself after any kind of surgery like the one you had." The woman said, very sternly. "You have to take care of yourself. That means getting sleep, eating, and drinking plenty of water. Alright?"

Kurt gave a weak nod as the Nebulizer made a crackling noise, reaching to turn the machine off and handing her the empty cup. He blinked sleepily at Blaine, already looking a little better after his breathing treatment.

"Alright, sweet pea. I'll get you back as soon as I can. If you start to feel like you can't breathe or that you need to see someone right away, I want you to have your boyfriend come and get me. Okay?"

Kurt nodded and stood with Blaine's help, taking a few steps. Blaine extended his arms out in front of him in case he began to fall, hazel eyes locked on him. He took his time making his way into the waiting room and, when he made it to a seat, he collapsed into it.

Blaine sat next to him, squeezing Kurt's hand with one hand and stroking his hair with the other. "You're okay. Just try to get some sleep and the time will pass faster. I'll wake you up when the doctor gets out here."

"I'll try." Kurt said, leaning against him and closing his eyes. Within minutes he was asleep.

* * *

"Blaine, I… Shit." Kurt mumbled nearly an hour later, now awake and still leaning heavily against Blaine in the ER waiting room.

Blaine slid an arm around his shoulders and kissed the side of his face, pulling him closer. "Shh. It can't be much longer now, Kurt."

"I can't breathe." Kurt whimpered, wheezing slightly but not near as bad as he had been before his earlier breathing treatments. "I really can't breathe."

"Honey, they gave you another breathing treatment the second we made it into the hospital." Blaine said very calmly, stroking his hair. "You can breathe. You're just getting yourself worked up."

"Why d-didn't they give me a room?" Kurt asked, taking deep and fast breaths.

"They're busy. Remember? There was a bad wreck." Blaine whispered, kissing his face again. He tried very hard to ignore the man and woman sending disgusted looks their way. "You'll be back there soon enough, baby."

Kurt moved into a hunched over position, letting out loud hacking coughs. After several seconds he straightened, face scrunched up. "B-Blaine, I just coughed up g-green stuff."

Blaine fished around in his pocket and pulled out an unused tissue, wiping the younger boy's hand off. "It's okay. It's just because you're sick. We'll just remember to tell the doctor."

"Mmmh." Kurt leaned back over, resting his head on his knees and swaying slightly, but not enough to fall.

Blaine moved his fingers up and down his back, feeling himself become even angrier when the old man and woman stormed from that section of the waiting room and into another connecting one, out of sight. Blaine was glad Kurt hadn't seen their actions, but he was still pissed. What gave them the right to be mad at him for comforting his sick boyfriend? What gave them the right to judge _anyone_? "Shh, shh." He said soothingly in an effort to calm Kurt's whimpers, trying to push his anger aside. He could be mad later. Kurt needed him right now. "You're okay, my love. You're okay. I'm right here."

"I-I-I'm sorry." Kurt suddenly burst into tears, arms hugging his knees.

"Why are you sorry?" Blaine pulled him up gently and forced Kurt to look at him. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

"I-I-I f-felt si-sick all week a-and didn't w-want to s-say anything b-because I knew you-you'd make me s-stay home." Kurt sobbed, tears sliding down his cheeks. "I am s-so sorry."

"Kurt, you—you can't do that." Blaine said calmly, but he could not stop his eyes widening. "We had an agreement that you were going to take care of yourself."

"I just g-get so much w-work and it's so hard. I-I can't even breathe a-and I'm scared." Kurt sobbed, shoulders shaking. "I'm scared, Blaine. I'm so scared and I can't bre-breathe and I just want to go home."

Blaine pulled Kurt onto his lap, speaking in a calm voice although he now felt nothing but calm. The way Kurt was talking was beginning to worry him. He didn't understand why Kurt felt the need to go so hard, to not take breaks, to not slow down. Why was he putting himself under so much pressure? Why was it so bad that he'd made himself sick? And why did Kurt keep making promises he wasn't able to keep? Didn't Kurt _want_ to be healthy? "You've got to stop working yourself up, Kurt. It's only going to make it harder to breathe. Calm down, my love."

"I-I-I c-caused this." Kurt gasped out. "Y-You probably hate me."

"Stop working yourself up." Blaine repeated, voice coming out much sterner than the first time. He didn't want to sound mad, but he knew it was vital that Kurt calm himself down. The last thing they needed was for Kurt to get worse than he already was—which was pretty bad. "I don't hate you. Come on, now. I could never hate you."

"I'm so sorry." Kurt whimpered. "I'm so, so, so sorry. I d-didn't want this to happen, Blaine. I just w-want to d-do good. I want t-to do good and b-be good enough f-for everything b-but I m-made a mess."

"Kurt, honey." Blaine said, almost desperately. "You didn't make a mess, babe. Hush. Shh, it's okay. It's okay. We're—we're going to fix it like we fix everything. W-We'll figure something out, okay? But right now the main thing is to get you feeling better. So I don't want you to worry about how or why you're here or anything else. Okay?"

"I just want to go home." Kurt moaned feebly.

"I'll get you home as soon as they check you over and give me the okay to. I promise."

* * *

"Definitely pneumonia." A female doctor announced coming up to Kurt's bed nearly another hour later. "Mr. Hummel, do you realize that you've lost fifteen pounds since your last check up with your primary doctor? And that you're incredibly malnourished? Your body is physically _exhausted_."

Blaine bit down on his lip hard to keep from sighing. He could tell Kurt had lost weight, but he'd been dumb enough to think it was still because he was off of the Prednisone. Malnourished? Physically exhausted? Weren't these all things he'd been worried about? Things Kurt had said were under control? Things Burt told Blaine to let Kurt have control of?

Yes.

They were.

While part of him wanted to be angry with his younger boyfriend, it was very hard to be mad at someone who looked so small and pitiful. Blaine was upset, but Kurt didn't need a lecture. They would talk later, when they were home and Kurt was feeling better. But at that moment Kurt needed rest so he could feel better. _Adequate_ rest.

He was starting to think Kurt needed this week to Michigan just as much as Blaine did. The week would clearly benefit Kurt more though. That's what his boyfriend needed. Time to get his health up and relax; time to get back into the swing of things and time to figure out how to take care of himself so this wouldn't happen again.

The doctor began to speak to Blaine again, breaking him away from his thoughts. "We're going to keep you _at_ _least_ overnight and he'll most likely have to stay the night tomorrow as well."

When Blaine nodded, she turned to Kurt and began to talk to him.

"You have a lot of fluid in your lungs and you're running a fever. When your body is malnourished, it weakens your immune system. I'm sure you came into contact with the virus and caught it like that." She snapped her fingers. "It can get nasty fast, especially for people with lung conditions. I would send you home but if something were to happen, I think everyone around you would feel better if you were in a hospital and not in a car on the way back to Cincinnati."

Kurt frowned, looking down. "Okay."

"Is he going to be okay? His lung…" Blaine asked nervously.

"I'm going to keep him here and we'll get things under control. We'll get him well rested, get some food in him, and hopefully the fluid in his lungs will disappear." She said very calmly. "The thing is to _keep_ it under control. I'd like to have him not go to classes for a week. Are you in a position to do that?"

_Oh my God. It's right after midterms. Everything from here on out is going to be on the finals and now I have to sit and make sure Kurt doesn't go to school?_

Blaine took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. I can make sure that happens." How could he not, after all? What was he supposed to do? Say no?

"Very good. Someone will be in shortly to give you some Amoxicillin, Kurt. We'll keep you on that for three days and if you don't start to feel better, we'll run some culture tests and find out exactly what's going on."

"Am I going to be in here for three days?" Kurt asked softly, looking down.

"I'm not sure how long you'll have to stay. We'll see how you're doing in tomorrow and take it from there. Honestly, we probably will have to keep you tomorrow night too… but maybe the next afternoon, you'll be able to be discharged. It all depends on how well the medicine takes and how quickly that fluid starts to clear up. We've gotten you to a point where you can breathe on your own which is excellent… So if you just let yourself rest, you'll be out of here before you know it." She said, offering him a sympathetic smile. "It's not so bad, really. I'll even turn a blind eye if you have someone bring you food from elsewhere. The food is really the worst part."

Kurt coughed a bit and nodded, mumbling a quiet "Thank you."

"We'll be back to check on you a little bit. If anything goes wrong, just push that button and a nurse will be right in." The lady offered him another sympathetic smile before heading towards the door.

"Thanks." Kurt said tiredly, nodding.

Blaine waited for the doctor to leave before gingerly sitting on the edge of the bed, letting out a long sigh. "You look better."

"Almost an hour of IV fluids will do that to you, I guess." Kurt joked weakly, looking down at his hands.

"You sound so much better." Blaine repeated as he reached a hand back and rubbed small circles on Kurt's back, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "How do you feel?"

"Well, I can breathe. That's improvement." Kurt said, leaning against Blaine and closing his eyes. "I'm just glad they're done poking and prodding at me and asking me all of those questions. It was making my headache even worse."

"They just want to help you feel better." Blaine whispered.

"Mmmh." Kurt nuzzled Blaine's shoulder and balled some of Blaine's shirt in his fist, coughing into his chest.

Blaine continued to rub his back, feeling relieved. A small part of him was telling him that he should be annoyed with Kurt because _everyone_ had told him this would happen, but no. He couldn't be annoyed with him—not even in the slightest. Because Kurt hadn't wanted this to happen. Kurt didn't want to end up in the hospital. He may have pushed himself too hard, but he hadn't wanted this. Besides, it was hard to be annoyed with someone who was nestled so close and holding onto his shirt as though his life depended on it. Sure, Blaine sounded repetitive when he though about this, but that was what it took to stop himself from trying to bring it up.

"I'm sorry, Blaine." Kurt mumbled into his chest, almost as if he could read Blaine's mind. "This is my fault."

"Shh." Blaine whispered. "It's not your fault you came into contact with someone with Pneumonia."

"If I had been taking better care of myself or if I'd gone to a doctor so—."

"Please don't do this." Blaine said, pulling back to look at him. "Look, it happened. There's no going back. So let's just get you better and work from there. Okay?"

Kurt looked down and nodded, speaking softly. "Okay."

"You need on focus on resting and getting your strength upright now." Blaine said.

They both looked up as the door opened. Burt and Carole both rushed in.

"What's going on?" Burt asked gruffly as Carole pulled Kurt into a hug.

"Kurt has pneumonia." Blaine answered quietly, really wishing he didn't have to talk to Burt but knowing he had to put any ill feelings aside. At least for now. "It's under control for right now. He's got a lot of fluid in his lungs, so they want to keep him for a bit. At least tonight, but maybe past that."

Blaine glanced over. Carole was smoothing Kurt's messy hair down and talking to him, eyes on him as he nodded in response to some questions and shook his head others.

"He's doing a lot better." Blaine said, biting his lip. "He's on some antibiotics They're giving him…" He trailed off.

"What?" Burt asked.

Blaine just glanced at Kurt again.

Burt turned and walked out of the room, nodding his head for Blaine to follow.

"I'll be right back." Blaine whispered, kissing the top of Kurt's head and leaving the room.

"What's really going on?" Burt asked.

"He's on fluids because he's malnourished… he's lost a lot of weight and he's… that's why it got so bad.. He's…"

"Not taking care of himself." Burt finished, looking angry.

"Please don't be angry with him. He really scared himself. He's anxious, he's sick, and he doesn't need anyone on his case right now." Blaine said, surprising himself.

"Everyone has bent over backwards trying to make him see reason." Burt said firmly. "So this wouldn't happen. And he didn't listen. You can't expect me to _not_ be angry."

"He couldn't even breathe two and a half hours ago."

"Even more reason to be angry. And it's his own damn fault."

"You seriously think he wanted this?" Blaine questioned.

"It doesn't matter what he wanted, kid. It's what he _did_. And you can sit here and baby him all you want but who is the one paying a hospital bill for him to stay here however many days? Do _you_ have that much cash in your pocket right now?"

Blaine stared at him in shock. He could not believe Burt was reacting this way. He had expected the exact _opposite_ of this.

"Now I'm not looking for another argument. Both Carole and Kurt are on my case over this mess. Don't tell me how to raise my kid and we'll be fine."

"He's _nineteen._ He doesn't need anyone to _raise_ him." Blaine snapped, again surprising himself. Why did it seem that lately the two couldn't have a conversation without it ending up this way? Did Burt hate him now? That didn't matter, though. What mattered was stopping Burt from going off on Kurt when he was still extremely sick and just needed rest. "I never would have told you to come here if I thought you were going to act like this."

"Yeah well I'm here now and I'm pissed." Burt said, pointing in the door. "Clearly somebody is going to have to do something to get through to him and obviously whatever in the hell _you_ _'_ _re_ trying isn't working."

"Stop acting like I don't take care of him!" Blaine exclaimed. "He's sick! I left school to get him to a hospital! I did what I could!"

"It shouldn't have gotten to this point! You should have made sure it didn't get to this point!"

"It's not my fault!" Blaine took a step back, looking hurt. " _I_ have been doing exactly what you told me to! _You_ said to stop telling him to not overwork! _You_ said he could handle it!"

"You baby him too much!"

"I baby him too much? What did I just _say_? Two months ago we got into an argument over him overworking himself! And what did _you_ say? That you _trusted_ _Kurt_ _to_ _know_ _his_ _limits_? I _tried_ to get you to understand what was happening! But you just wanted to be pissed off that I said something to Kurt that hurt his feelings! If it's anyone's fault it's _yours_ for not listening and saying something to him earlier!"

"First of all, that argument was _not_ about that. It was about you disrespecting my son and using that as your excuse. Second, you are the one who has been telling me to stay out of his business!" Burt snapped, making the argument go around in circles.

"And you're the one who told _me_ to stop trying to push him into eating and sleeping! You're the one who told me to let him take care of himself! You told me to leave him alone!" Blaine said, voice rising.

Carole came out of the room, looking annoyed. "What are you two _doing_? Kurt is in there sick and you two are out here arguing? I'm surprised at _both_ of you. What could you possibly be arguing about?"

"He's saying—." Burt started.

" _It_ _doesn_ _'_ _t_ _matter!_ " Carole said, angrily pointing at Burt. "Kurt is _sick_!"

"It's his fault."

"And yet you're sitting here yelling at Blaine?" Carole snapped. "Tell me what good that will do, Burt. If you can't handle being here without acting like a spoiled brat, then maybe you should go back to work."

"We shouldn't be in this position right now! This could have been prevented, Carole!"

"Well we're in it now because _your_ _son_ is sick. I don't know what else to say to you, Burt. But your son is sick and arguing with anybody won't help that at all."

Burt went into the room, angrily, without even answering his wife. "How could you do this, Kurt? Do you have any idea how much it costs to have you stay in the hospital? Carole and I are still trying to keep our heads over water after your last hospital stay. That settlement didn't pay for the second surgery and our premiums have been sky high ever since—."

"Burt—." Carole hissed as Blaine sat by Kurt, looking furious.

"No. You want to baby him? Fine. Blaine wants to baby him? Fine. But I'm his father and this isn't right. He will be twenty in August. He wants to move out on his own and act like a man, then I'm going to talk to him like he's a man." Burt interrupted her, keeping his eyes on his son who shifted anxiously. "Kurt, do _you_ have the money to pay for this?"

Kurt stared at his dad, blue eyes wide and standing out against his paler-than-usual skin.

"Do you?" Burt repeated.

"N-no…" Kurt looked down.

"Because you don't have a job."

Kurt let out a shaky breath, figuring it was probably not a good idea to bring up that he _had_ worked at the garage on Fridays before they stopped going to dinners.

"Burt, it's not the time." Carole said. "This can wait."

"No. It is the time. Because if I say it later, he won't listen. He'll feel better and just write off everything I say and we'll be doing this all again in five more months. _Everyone_ has been trying to tell him this was going to happen since August. It is now almost April." Burt said loudly, and pointed at Kurt. "You did this to yourself."

"I know that! Why are you being so mean to me?" Kurt exclaimed before dissolving into a coughing fit.

"Please, just stop." Blaine said quietly, rubbing Kurt's back and glaring. "This isn't what he needs right now."

"What does he need then, Blaine? Since you're so knowledgeable in keeping him healthy, tell me what he needs!"

"Don't talk to Blaine like that. This isn't his fault." Kurt said through his coughs.

"Burt, honestly!"

"When are you going to grow up? When are you going to start taking care of yourself again and taking responsibility for your actions?" Burt asked.

"I know it's my fault! I'm trying!" Kurt said, looking upset. He scooted closer to Blaine, as if in an attempt to shield himself from his father's words.

"No. If you were trying, we wouldn't be here right now, Kurt. And don't you try hiding from this. Now Carole and I are looking at over $8,000 in hospital costs. After the insurance, we'll probably still have to pay $5,500! All because you think that it's okay to work yourself sick and go around not eating and not sleeping!"

Kurt swallowed hard, tears filling his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, kid. That hospital bill will be there, sorry or not."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"You're not sorry because you're going to do the same thing again, Kurt! You think you can just move across the state with your boyfriend and play house like you two are married or something! And that's fine and all! Live with who you want! But don't kid yourself by thinking you're so overwhelmed and that this isn't your fault. This. Is. Your. Fault. You are the one who moved out, you are the one who took too many classes, and you are the one who is not taking care of yourself. You're not moving forward, Kurt. You're moving _back_.""

Kurt turned, face burying in Blaine's chest and shoulders shaking.

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, whispering sweet nothings in his ear and glaring at the wall, too intimidated to aim his glares directly at Burt.

"Burt, why would you do that? Why would you say that to him? And why couldn't it wait?" Carole exclaimed.

"He needed to hear it!"

"Yes, someone needs to talk to him. When he's not sick and in the hospital. Calmly, not yelling at him like he's five." Carole said sharply. "He's having trouble breathing and now you've got him over there sobbing and coughing. What good did that do?"

"I can't be in here right now." Burt stormed out of the hospital room, letting the door slam behind him. Carole followed, sighing heavily.

"I-I-I d-didn't mean f-for this to h-happen!" Kurt whimpered.

"I know, my love. I know." Blaine whispered, rocking him while holding him close. "I know."

"I'm so s-sorry, Blaine."

"I know. Shh." Blaine said, moving them into a laying position. "It's okay."

"It's n-not okay." Kurt whimpered, before coughing loudly. "I should have listened."

"Okay and you know that now." Blaine said gently, patting his back. "So let's not get worked up over this. Your dad is just upset right now. He's angry and he's worried about you, Kurt. Please calm down. What's important is getting you healthy right now. We can worry about the other stuff later, okay?"

Kurt just scooted closer, crying into Blaine's shoulder helplessly and coughing sporadically between sobs until he wore himself out and fell asleep.

* * *

"Are you sure there's nothing you want me to get you, hon? Even some orange juice or something?"

Kurt coughed into Blaine's shoulder and snuggled closer, shaking his head. "Thanks."

"If you're sure... If he wakes up and wants anything, he can just text me and I'll get it. And you can if you too change your mind." Carole said, smoothing down some of his hair and smiling.

"Thanks, Carole." Kurt said again, moving Blaine's arm over his waist and curling up against his warm boyfriend. He had to admit that he was very surprised the doctors had let Blaine sleep with him on the bed the night before, but he wasn't complaining in the slightest.

As he began to feel… well, less like he was dying although not quite better, he began to remember how much he really disliked hospitals. It reminded him of his stays the previous year. Having Blaine within reach was comforting, even if the older boy was currently fast asleep.

He took a deep breath when he heard Carole shut the hospital door and let himself relax against Blaine, whose arms were now wrapped tightly around him. He curled up with Blaine and their bodies fit perfectly together, like they were made to be that way. Kurt suspected they were.

He hated that he was back in the hospital. He also hated how guilty he felt, especially after his dad's yelling the night before. Burt hadn't showed back up, at least not when Kurt was awake. As much as that upset him, he tried to focus on something positive. Like how being so close to Blaine for a long period of time felt so nice— like the old times he had told Taylor he missed.

Kurt startled when he felt Blaine kiss his warm cheek. "You awake?"

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded, eyes still closed. "Feel better?"

"They gave me two breathing treatments as soon as I woke up." Kurt admitted. "I woke up feeling like I couldn't breathe again."

That woke Blaine up instantly and he pushed himself into a sitting position, blinking down at Kurt and frowning. "You could have woken me up, Kurt."

"Carole was right there with me. She just ran out to get some food." Kurt assured him, looking down when Blaine kissed his cheek again. "It's alright."

"You okay?" Blaine asked, tilting his own head to the side.

Kurt nodded and pulled the covers that he had kicked off of them back over himself, shivering. "I just don't feel good."

"You look much better than last night when you went to bed, though." Blaine said, offering him a sleepy smile. "Did they check you over?"

"Still dehydrated, feverish, and I still have fluid in my lungs." Kurt sighed, which led to three painful coughs. "And now my throat kind of hurts too. I have to stay the night again."

Blaine sighed also and rubbed his back, leaning his head against Kurt's.

"Blaine… were you arguing with my Dad last night?" Kurt asked slowly, raising his head to look at Blaine.

Blaine looked down. "Kind of."

"Did he come back… after…?"

"Yeah. He came back half an hour after you fell asleep last night. We apologized to each other. He said he'd talk to you later today when he gets in from work." Blaine answered.

"I take it he's still mad?"

"Most definitely." Blaine nodded. "But he feels bad for being so harsh… although he still thinks you needed to hear it. So I don't think he's going to yell at you again."

"Great." Kurt relaxed against Blaine. "I barely even remember yesterday before Dad yelled at me."

"You were in pretty bad shape." Blaine said, stroking his hair. "You almost passed out after class."

"Oh my God. This is so embarrassing." Kurt moaned.

" _Alec_ took you to his house and called me." Blaine said, having a hard time not saying _the_ _Homewrecker_ despite how nice Alec had been to him yesterday. Nice? They'd seen each other maybe five minutes. He hadn't had time to be evil. Blaine was pretty sure it still lurked there though, deep down. "So I came and we went to a doctor… and they told me to bring you here. You could barely breathe… it was really scary."

Kurt let out a deep breath and rubbed his face, tilting his head up to look at the ceiling. "I have made such a mess of everything, Blaine. I am so sorry."

"I know you are." Blaine said quietly.

"Are you upset with me?" Kurt asked, and then shook his head. "Of course you are."

"I'm not going to say that I'm not upset… but I'm not going to say 'I told you so' either." Blaine said, nudging his arm. "Right now I think this sucks. I'm not mad at you. I'm upset that it got this far, but… but you're here, you're going to be fine once this medicine takes effect, and that is what's important. Once we get home, we'll start trying to figure out what is going to be okay for us again."

"I have a feeling you're more upset than you're letting on." Kurt sighed.

"Yeah. I kind of am." Blaine said honestly. "But, like I said, I just want you to feel better. What's done is done. We can't go back in time and make you not get sick, Kurt. So we're going to have to deal with it."

"I'm still sorry." Kurt mumbled, looking down. At least Blaine wasn't yelling at him like his dad had been last night. While Kurt could breathe okay for the most part for the moment, he still felt awful. He would take chills, a sore throat, and a migraine over not gasping for breath any day though. He must have at least looked better than he had when he'd woken up, too, because Carole had left to get food. She had steadily refused to leave his side ever since he'd awoken, unable to breathe.

Blaine looked at him and nodded. "I know."

"I promised to take better care of myself… I didn't know this would happen, Blaine. I don't like that I can barely remember what happened last night and I don't like the pitying looks the nurses keep giving me when they check on my IVs. I should have told you I felt sick last week… Going to the doctor and missing a day or two of classes would have been better than the however-long I'll miss now."

"You're right. It would have been." Blaine said, but there was no trace of annoyance or anger in his voice. He sounded very calm.

"If you are mad at me, Blaine, you can tell me. You probably _should_ be mad at me. Mad because you had to drive from Lexington all the way to Columbus, and you're probably tired because you had exams earlier. You probably just want to go home and sleep but you're stuck here."

"I got plenty of sleep with you last night. I actually skipped my second exam, though. I went to her office hours and explained, so she's going to let me retake it." Blaine said quietly.

"So this with me got in the way of your school _again_." Kurt said, looking furious. "Blaine, I'm so sorry."

"Just don't do this again, Kurt… Please. I really, really, _really_ hate being put through this. I don't like to think about last year. I really don't like to think about it, and you couldn't breathe, and—."

Kurt leaned up¸ kissing him. "I won't. I... I'm going to find a way to make this work. My head hurts too much too think about it now but…" He just trailed off, not really able to form words for what he wanted to say, and leaned against Blaine. "I'm so sorry."

"Hush now. Right now we're focusing on you getting some rest and feeling better. We can worry about everything else later." Blaine said, sliding off of the bed and pulling the blanket over Kurt.

"Where are you going?"

"If I sit right there with you, you're going to keep on with your guilt trip." Blaine said reasonably. "So I'm going to sit right here by the bed and work on homework so you'll actually rest."

Kurt nodded and looked down at his fingernails, stifling coughs and stealing glances at his boyfriend every once in a while. Blaine read on, completely oblivious, until Kurt cleared his throat.

Blaine looked up at him, confused. "Hmm?"

Kurt looked back at him, blue eyes meeting hazel, before he spoke softly. "If I promise to stop stressing about it will you lay up here with me? It makes me feel better."

Blaine stood and hopped onto the bed without hesitation. "No stressing. Just rest and relaxation, Mr. Hummel."

"Okay. No stressing." Kurt said, letting himself relax against Blaine. "Thanks for leaving UK to come and get me all the way in Columbus, Blaine. And for staying with me. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Kurt." Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's leg. "But when your dad gets here, you may want to amp up the big blue eyes a bit. You still look sick, but I think if you look more pitiful he'll go a little easier on you."

Kurt let out a laugh that turned into a cough, shaking his head. "I made my bed… I should probably lie in it."

"You're a braver man than me."

_ **Part Two** _

"Everything seems to be in order. Now, it's Friday. I've given you a note for all of your classes. I'm _requiring_ you to not attend classes next week. Even though you're good enough to leave the hospital, you are still very sick." Kurt's doctor announced, coming in and flashing him a kind smile. He then looked to Blaine. "You'll be with him?"

"I live with him, yeah." Blaine nodded.

"He needs to stay in bed. No leaving the house for at least five days. Plenty of liquids, three meals a day—maybe even four. If he takes his antibiotics properly, he should be feeling _much_ better by Wednesday. If he's not, I want you to take him to his primary doctor. They'll evaluate what needs to be done—whether it is him being readmitted to a hospital, which is doubtful, or simply changing his medicine or adding another medicine to it. In fact, I would probably take him to his primary doctor on Wednesday anyway so they can make sure he's where he needs to be. It may seem like a waste of money if he's feeling better, but this has got to remain under control."

"Alright." Blaine nodded, paying very close attention.

"Now, Kurt, I'm putting you on Prednisone. Have you ever been on it before?" The doctor asked, turning his attention back to Kurt.

"Yeah, after my surgery for a few months." Kurt coughed into his arm.

The man nodded "Good. This is a _much_ lower dosage than that would have been. You'll be on it for ten days. It's going to help fight off the infection and keep it from coming back worse. You _need_ to take it exactly how the instructions say, alright?"

Kurt nodded, looking relieved. Blaine had a feeling this was because he only had to take the Prednisone for ten days, but he couldn't be sure. Personally, Blaine was just relieved that Kurt was finally able to go home after four nights and three days.

"You'll be on a few other medicines. I talked to your father already about them, but if you have any questions, call your primary doctor and they'll be able to answer them. If you start to feel like you can't breathe, do a breathing treatment on the Nebulizer we gave your dad. If that doesn't help _considerably_ , it would be time to get to another hospital. And you can't mess around with this. If you get to that point, you _need_ _to_ _go_. I cannot explain how much you do _not_ want this to get worse. Pneumonia can lead to much more serious conditions if not handled properly. Much more serious. This is why you need to take this entire thing very seriously. We need to make sure that you don't get worse, that it goes away, and that it doesn't come back."

"Alright." Kurt said quietly.

"Good. I just need you to sign a few papers for you and you're free to go." The man said, handing Kurt a clip board. Kurt signed it quickly, more than ready to get back to his own home and his own bed. "Feel better, Kurt."

"Thanks." Kurt offered a weak smile as his father walked in. While Burt still was not by any means pleased, the man had been much nicer to Kurt. It was obvious he felt bad for yelling but, as Burt had said, he needed it. Kurt had to admit he probably did. He hadn't known the insurance stuff was still an issue which made him feel bad, but when he thought of the new added costs he felt even worse.

"We all set, kiddo?" Burt asked, approaching the bed.

"Yeah. They said I'm good to go." Kurt nodded as the doctor exited the room.

"Alright, bud. Let's get you out of this bed so we can get you home." Burt leaned down and slid his arms under Kurt's leg. Kurt draped his arm around Burt's shoulder as his dad lifted him out of bed, leaning heavily against Burt when he was stood on his own two feet.

"Do you have it? Are you okay to walk?" his dad questioned, looking concerned.

"I'm fine, Dad." Kurt said tiredly, removing his arm from Burt's shoulders and swallowing hard. He took a few steps and rubbed his forehead, wincing. "I need help though."

Burt moved forward to help him but paused, glancing at Blaine who was grabbing Kurt's bag. "Here, kid. You help Kurt and I'll get this stuff."

Blaine looked up, surprised, but immediately set the bag down and rushed to Kurt's side wrapping his arm around the younger boy's waist and pulling him close. Kurt let himself relax against Blaine, leaning all of his weight onto his boyfriend as they walked very slowly towards the door.

"I've got you." Blaine whispered, well aware that Burt was watching them closely but not even able to find it in himself to care. "Are you okay?"

"Just sick pains." Kurt whispered back weakly, stumbling a bit.

"I've got you. Don't walk too fast. Take it slow." Blaine said, arm tightening around him. "We're going to get you home and right into _our_ bed. Alright?"

"I just have to email my professors and—."

"No. I talked to Alec and, from what I understand, he's already talked to them and let them know what's going on. He said he'll send you assignments, but not until you've missed a week's worth of classes _after_ getting home from the hospital. Meaning next Friday he'll either drop by or, more likely, we'll go down there."

Kurt opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't find the energy to make the words come. To be honest, he almost felt relieved. He knew the assignments would be piling up but his chest hurt, his head pounded, he was struggling to keep food down, and in general he just felt _weak_. Maybe not focusing on school would be okay for a while. Maybe it would give him time to think about what he was going to do to change things—because this was clearly _not_ working.

Instead of speaking, he just nuzzled Blaine's shoulder as they reached the car that Carole had pulled up outside the hospital's entrance.

"Let's get you in, hon." She said, hopping out of the driver's seat and opening the front passenger door to the car. "Watch his head, Blaine."

"I know." Blaine said softly, easing Kurt into the car very carefully.

"You two are going on and we're getting his medicine filled?" Burt asked gruffly as Blaine quietly shut the door, which still prompted Kurt to cringe a bit.

"Yeah… unless you want to take him and I get the medicine." Blaine said, not exactly making eye contact.

"I want Blaine to stay with me." Kurt said through the open window, right as Burt said, "No, no, we'll get the medicine."

Blaine gave Kurt a small smile and squeezed his hand before telling Burt and Carole how to get to the pharmacy that was closest to their small apartment. When Carole had written everything down, Blaine opened the driver side's door and got into the car with Kurt.

"You two be careful." Carole said, waving. "We'll see you soon."

Blaine nodded and, after waving, pulled off.

They still didn't know what was going to happen. Kurt knew that Blaine had missed two days of classes that week because of him. Kurt also knew that missing those days put him in a position where he couldn't miss _any_ more days. Even worse, Kurt was definitely not in a position to take care of himself. Blaine had even been helping Kurt to the bathroom—which, while in the hospital, had only been six steps away. There was no way he could be expected to take care of himself for long hours at a time, right out of the hospital.

While Kurt knew something was going to happen, he just didn't know what that something would be. Honestly it was out of his hands, seeing as whoever would be taking care of him would likely be making the decisions. He hated that he'd put them in the position of having to rework schedules to make sure he wasn't alone. He also hated that he was going to have to be so dependent on someone until he felt better. However out of his hands it may have been though, he _really_ didn't want them to decide that the best thing was for Kurt to stay in Lima with his dad and Carole while Blaine stayed home.

As good as he knew they, and primarily Carole, would be taking care of him… He didn't want to be away from Blaine. Even having Blaine at his side made Kurt feel better. Blaine was comforting, sweet, and Kurt just… really wanted to be with Blaine. Besides, maybe he wanted to know that Blaine wasn't angry enough at Kurt to not want to be with _him_.

No.

Kurt really didn't want to be in Lima for a week without Blaine.

As they pulled out of the hospital parking lot, Burt and Carole behind them, Kurt felt Blaine's hand rest on his leg. Kurt had leaned his head against the now closed window when Blaine had first gotten into the car, so he sat himself up straight and looked at his boyfriend.

"Blaine?" he questioned.

"Hmm?" Blaine glanced over before looking back ahead at the road.

"I just… I hope you know that I am sorry for everything." Kurt said quietly, placing his own hand over Blaine's larger one.

"Hush, I know. I already told you that it's okay. What's done is done. We'll just have to start from here, won't we?" Blaine said gently, squeezing Kurt's leg. Blaine had said that so many times over the last three and a half days that it was like his new mantra. "You're going to be just fine and we're going to figure everything out."

"I just want to know that you aren't mad at me." Kurt admitted.

"Kurt, we've got bigger worries right now than whether I'm mad. We need to get you feeling better so we can get through the rest of the semester without losing our minds. Besides, I already told you that I'm not mad." Blaine said, voice a little more firm.

"I just…"

Blaine didn't even let him finish this time. "Listen, I don't want to talk about this today. You still feel really bad, Kurt. We'll talk about it tomorrow. But I'm not mad. Right now I just wish that things weren't like this right now. I wish you felt better and that things would start getting better for you. You've had it really tough since the beginning of your senior year at McKinley and I hate that. It's like you can't catch a break, even if some of the problems you've brought on yourself. That's all that I want to say right now because I don't want to get into it right now when you're sick."

"I'm not just some kid." Kurt said, coughing a bit. "I can handle it, Blaine."

Blaine turned to face him when they pulled to a red light. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Kurt. I'm not mad at you but _I_ _don_ _'_ _t_ _want_ _to_ _talk_ _about_ _it_ and I wish you would stop making me repeat that."

"Turn left to get onto the highway." Kurt mumbled. "It's shorter that way."

Blaine turned on his blinker and merged into the turning lane, nodding. "You know what I think, Kurt? I think you're mad at yourself. I think you want me to be angry so we can fight. That way someone will say to you what you're thinking about yourself."

Kurt looked down.

"I thought your dad had that covered though, personally. If you want anything like that from me, you'll be sorely disappointed." Blaine added.

"I'm really angry with myself right now." Kurt admitted, slowly scooting to the edge of the seat that was closest to Blaine and grabbing one of his hands.

Blaine kissed his knuckles before Kurt lowered their hands until they were rested on the console, both boys gripping the other's hand tightly.

"I know you are." Blaine said softly. "But it's going to be okay. We'll figure something out. We _will_ get this right." He stared ahead, shaking his head. "There's no other option."

"Unless you get tired of it and you might decide to leave." Kurt mumbled, surprising even himself. He hadn't really thought about it in the past but he could just see something in Blaine's face the last few days in the hospital—something he'd never seen before. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew he didn't want to see it again. It was almost like defeat.

Blaine's head whipped around. "What?"

"It's so different." Kurt whispered.

"So?" Blaine asked, glancing back at the road and then back at Kurt. "If you seriously think I would _ever_ leave you over something like this, then we've got _much_ bigger problems than figuring out a schedule that works for us."

"Doesn't it make you sad? Don't you miss how it was when we first started dating?" Kurt asked, feeling more and more miserable with each word he spoke.

Blaine shook his head, an odd expression on his face. He didn't speak, merely pulled off of the next exit, pulled into a random parking lot, and turned the car off.

"Doesn't it?" Kurt urged.

"We're not a junior and senior in high school anymore, Kurt. Things were never going to be the same. I thought we _knew_ that. We knew there would be schedule conflicts. We knew we wouldn't get to spend as much time together." Blaine responded, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"But after—."

"Even if you hadn't been attacked, even if I hadn't moved in with you, things would still be different. In fact, who knows if we would have made it with me off at college and you here? Maybe we would have broken up." Blaine said, unbuckling his seat belt and turning to face Kurt. "No, Kurt. It doesn't make me sad that things are different because we're so close. At least, I think we are…" He looked down.

"We are. We just never get to spend time together. And it makes it so hard." Kurt looked down also.

"It's hard for me too." Blaine sighed, chewing on his lip. "But it's something I'm willing to deal with… We're going to have to face reality. You want to be a designer and I want to be a lawyer. Both are very time consuming. So when we're older and married… we might not see each other as much as we want."

"Older and married." Kurt echoed quietly, raising his eyes and looking at Blaine, who was now staring at him. "I kind of like the sound of that."

"Kind of?" Blaine laughed. "Just kind of?"

"It's the 'older' bit that's throwing it off. I mean, I know my face will be fine. But you absolutely refuse to use any kind of—."

"This again?" Blaine rolled his eyes. "I already told you that I don't want to participate in any nightly skincare rituals. This was discussed as soon as we started dating. Just like you refused to step foot inside a McDonald's."

"Fine. If we can't talk about that, can we talk about how all you eat is fast food still and how you'll be the size of a house? What if our daughter—God forbid—picks up that habit from you? You should really eat healthy. For your unborn child's sake." Kurt sighed.

" _I_ _'_ _m_ _nineteen!_ _"_ Blaine said, laughing even louder.

"You'll be twenty in a few days." Kurt pointed out.

Blaine stared ahead, blinking and looking confused.

"It's Friday. Your birthday is Monday."

"Is it really almost April?" Blaine wondered aloud. "That means this time next year, Wes and David will be buying lots and lots of alcohol."

"Oh, God. Wes will be here for your twenty first birthday." Kurt leaned back against the seat tiredly, letting out a quiet cough. "I don't want to see the aftermath of this, Blaine. I'm scared."

"Wes' mother already called me three times and told me to avoid his horrible influences." Blaine said, rolling his eyes and then shaking his head. "People don't trust me to not act fifteen anymore."

"I don't trust you to not act fifteen anymore." Kurt teased, closing his eyes. "Do you promise we'll be okay?"

"Yeah." Blaine leaned over, squeezing Kurt's smaller hand. "Everything is going to be just fine."

Kurt nodded and reached into the back seat of Blaine's car, pulling an extra sweater up with him and laying it over himself as though it was a blanket.

"Get some sleep, babe. I'll wake you if anything terribly exciting happens on the highway. You know, like an alien invasion or Jurassic Park Meets Real World or anything like that."

"You would thoroughly enjoy that." Kurt said, closing his eyes and snuggling under Blaine's sweater. "Too much."

"Night, Kurt." Blaine laughed.

"Mmh. I love you." Kurt mumbled sleepily.

"I love you too."

* * *

When Blaine and Kurt finally got home, David's car was in the parking lot, directly next to Kurt's Navigator where Blaine usually parked. Blaine pulled into the spot next to it and went around the car to ease his sleeping boyfriend out of the car. He then made his way up the walk to their apartment, very thankful they were on the first floor, and rang the doorbell. Seeing as David was in the apartment, he didn't see the need to risk finding his keys and waking Kurt up.

"Hey. I wasn't sure if I had to feed Kreacher or not since you were coming home today, so I went ahead and did it." David said after opening the door. He moved aside quickly for Blaine. "He must be light."

"Extremely so. Thanks." Blaine said, moving into the apartment. "For the dog, for getting Kurt's car, for everything. Thanks. Really."

"Don't mention it, Blaine. How's he doing?" David asked, watching his friend. Blaine bent to rest Kurt on the couch but Kurt began to whine, clinging to Blaine in his sleep. Blaine resigned to sit himself on the couch and hold Kurt, glad to have an excuse to hold him.

"He's beating himself up over the whole thing." Blaine said softly, trying to move Kurt into a more comfortable position. Eventually he got Kurt to sit on his lap with his head leaning against his shoulder.

"He can't help that he got sick even if he was overdoing it." David said reasonably, sitting on the couch next to them. "Is he feeling better?"

Blaine chose to ignore David's first statement, considering he disagreed, and instead make a 'tsk'ing noise before answering his question. " _Feeling_ better… I don't know. But most of the fluid is out of his lungs and they let him come home. He's only needed a breathing treatment every eight or so hours. The other day he went back and forth between needing an inhaler or a breathing treatment that they had to just cut him off…"

David nodded and sighed. "He looks pretty awful."

Kurt whimpered into Blaine's shoulder pitifully.

"Somebody's awake." Blaine sang, nudging him. "Hmm? Is Kurt awake?"

"Don't look horrible." Kurt shushed him, nuzzling his shoulder. "Shh."

Blaine stood with Kurt in his arms. "Care if I lay him down now that he's awake and less likely to protest?"

"No, of course not." David hopped up and moved out of the way immediately.

Blaine eased Kurt into a laying position and pulled the blanket off of the back of the couch onto him. Kurt snuggled under the covers and let out a soft snore.

"His dad and Carole are on their way with the medicine. Was the evil dog good?" Blaine asked, straightening himself up and looking around for Kreacher.

"I think he's just confused. I can see what you mean, though. He has got it out for you. He kept trying to get into your socks." David laughed. "How are… well, you haven't really talked to his dad since the fight before this, right?"

"It's been… strange."

"So are things better?"

"We argued again, actually." Blaine sighed.

"You and he got into another argument?" David repeated, eyes widening. "Why?"

Blaine ruffled Kurt's incredibly messy hair (which would have been a serious turn on if he wasn't sick) and then held up a finger, nodding towards the kitchen.

David followed Blaine out of the living room. When they reached the kitchen, Blaine went straight to the fridge, pulled out two sodas, and handed one to David. "His dad was pissed he got sick… I tried to tell him that Kurt didn't need to be yelled at then, that he just needed rest and a talking to later. But that didn't go over well."

"I thought this guy _liked_ you?"

"Yeah. Me too." Blaine sighed. "I guess he doesn't like me so much anymore or something… I don't know what I did wrong…"

"Did he at least apologize?" David asked.

Blaine nodded, looking a bit upset. If David hadn't known him so well, though, he never would have known because Blaine could hide his feelings well. "Yeah. He did later that night. After that, it went back to how it was at last Friday's dinner. He was way too nice and it was way too awkward."

"But it sounds like things are getting better then, doesn't it? If you're going to dinners and he apologized for the last fight?"

"I don't know… I'm still not ready to put everything behind me yet. I don't want to go to dinners and talk about sports and stuff…" Blaine admitted.

"That's understandable though. He said some pretty bad things to you, Blaine. I don't blame you for not wanting to be around him much for a while. Just know that eventually you're going to have to make up for real, for Kurt's sake. And for your own. You don't want to spend the rest of your life arguing with him… Speaking of Kurt, though, are you mad at him?" David asked.

Blaine hopped onto the counter and sighed, popping open his soda can and taking a drink. "I'm not _mad,_ per se."

"But?"

"I don't know." Blaine sighed again. "I would be mad at him if he hadn't scared himself so badly. Besides, he's angry enough at himself right now over the whole thing. I don't think there's any room for me to be angry too."

"Well I'm sure three days and four nights in a hospital was a pretty good wake up call." David laughed a bit, although there really wasn't anything humorous about the situation. "But he's going to be okay?"

"Yeah. He's got to miss classes next week, though, and I don't even know what to do. I can't miss a week of classes. I had to leave early and miss half my classes Tuesday; I couldn't go at all Thursday. I had to miss when I got my wisdom teeth out. If I miss two of my classes one more time I automatically fail because of the attendance policy for the English department." Blaine set his soda can down and rubbed his face. "Shit, this sucks. This _sucks_. I am so in over my head here."

"Why can't he go to Lima for the week?"

Blaine just groaned and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I don't want him to go to Lima with his parents. _I_ want to take care of him. _Me_."

"Look, Blaine… You're only twenty. You don't have to deal with this stuff—." David began.

Blaine looked down at him quickly, eyes narrowing. "You have no idea what you're talking about, David! I'm not just shacking up with him to have the limited amount of sex I get until I go to law school and meet someone better!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You didn't even let me finish." David said very calmly. "You don't have to deal with this stuff _alone_."

The anger quickly left Blaine's face and he tilted his head back up towards the ceiling, groaning. "Sorry."

"I'm not trying to upset you. I just think you should share some of the responsibility here. You're too young to too busy to do everything by yourself."

"Well I don't exactly have a choice, now, do I?"

"Funny. You're starting to sound like Kurt." David said smirking. "I guess people really do turn into the people they love."

Blaine got a blank expression on his face, staring ahead, before he giggled. "That did kind of sound like Kurt, didn't it?"

"Give it time and Kurt will start eating fast food regularly." David laughed. "But, really, Blaine… When it comes to this, you don't have to do it alone. You only have classes two days a week. Look, I don't have classes on Thursday morning. So if his parents can be with him Tuesday, I can stay with him on Thursday… until five, at least. Then you're happy because he's at home with you and someone will be here with him when you're in class."

"I guess you're right. Then someone would only have to stay the night Monday and take care of him on Tuesday… and he may even feel okay enough to be by himself on Thursday."

"I'm sure he will." David nodded. "He might even on Tuesday."

"Yeah." Blaine said, looking and feeling much less stressed out. "I mean, it's only Friday. I'll just talk to his parents and see if they'd be okay with the Tuesday thing… Are you sure you wouldn't mind being here Thursday if he needs it?"

David shrugged. "It'll be fine. I'll bring over my laptop and show him embarrassing pictures and videos of you. It'll be a bonding experience."

"Wes will be incredibly jealous. We best hope Kurt feels better by Thursday or we'll have to face the Asian one's wrath." Blaine laughed.

"Did you sleep last night? You look really tired." David randomly pointed out.

"Oh God. Are you going to start parenting me?" Blaine moaned. "Carole's been doing this since Tuesday night."

"I just know how you did the last time he was in the hospital. You need to be well rested to take care of someone who is sick." David shrugged.

"I did get plenty of sleep." Blaine assured him. "A full six and a half hours. Kurt rarely let me leave the bed and there was nothing else to do."

They both looked up as they heard the front door open.

"Hon, we're here!" Carole called from the other room and then she gasped. "Oh, he's asleep. C'mon, Melody. Let's go find Blaine. I'm sure he's in the kitchen."

David let out a loud laugh at that, clapping his hands together as Blaine sent him a glare.

A minute later Carole came into the room slowly, looking down at the floor behind her at Melody who was scooting into the room on her butt. A few seconds after Burt came into the room, a bag with Kurt's medicines in his hand.

"Oh, hello!" Carole smiled warmly. "David, right?"

"Yes ma'am." David said, waving. "It's nice to see you again."

"Oh, you're so sweet." Carole said, going up and ruffling Blaine's hair. "You holding up okay, sweetie? You look a little tired."

"I slept last night!" Blaine exclaimed.

"She's convinced herself that you're worrying yourself sick. Literally." Burt supplied, setting the bag on the counter and scooping Melody up.

"Look, Melody. Look! It's Blaine!" Carole cooed, pointing at Blaine. She smiled at David. "She _loves_ Blaine to pieces."

"So does Wes' sister." David laughed. "Babies and toddlers all do."

"David is the one who got Kurt's car from Columbus." Blaine explained, smiling as Melody held out a tiny hand. He hopped down from the counter and made his way over, kissing her tiny hand and causing her to squeal gleefully and kick out her legs.

"Thank you so much." Carole smiled at David.

"It was no problem. My sister was in and she went with me. It was a nice excuse to get out of my apartment." David said, smiling right back at her.

"Kurt, go lay back down." Burt said gruffly as Kurt made his way into the kitchen very slowly, rubbing his face.

Kurt shrugged and ignored him, instead going over and leaning against Blaine.

"Want some?" Blaine asked, holding out his can of Dr. Pepper.

"Mhmm." Kurt said, taking the can and sipping from it.

"Are you hungry? Any three of you boys?" Carole asked, taking Melody from Burt. Melody was staring fixedly in the boys' directions, but her eyes were clearly on David and she had an adorable little grin on her face.

"Uh oh. Someone's got a crush on David." Blaine laughed, pointing.

David laughed and waved at her. "How old is she?"

"She'll be one in July." Carole beamed. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Sure." David moved towards her and took the baby.

"She grabs anything she can get a hold on." Blaine warned, seating Kurt at the table. Just as he said this, Melody started to tug on the string of David's hoodie, eyes wide. "And I mean anything."

"He's only on a few pills." Burt told Blaine as soon as Kurt was seated, pulling the bottles out of the bag. "He takes the Azith-whatever-the-hell-that-says once a day and the Amoxicillin twice a day. They're both just to make sure the pneumonia stops. If he doesn't start getting better, we'll have to take him back so they can find some medicine that will work."

Blaine nodded, taking the pill bottles. He figured stating that the doctor had told him that twice wouldn't have been a good idea.

"They said that he'll probably want to take Tylenol so I did get some of that. And some cough drops and cough syrup. He won't want to take it but he'll just have to until the cough goes away."

"I don't think he'll have a problem with it. He knows what he needs to do." Blaine said, putting the bottles back neatly on the table. At least, he thought, he _hoped_ Kurt would do what he needed to do.

"Kurt, hon, would you care if I stayed and helped take care of you? Blaine's got to stay caught up in school." Carole said, leaning down by him and checking his forehead.

Blaine resisted the urge to sigh in relief. It would be Carole, not Burt. He wouldn't have to feel tense in his own home.

"I don't mind. Thanks." Kurt gave her a weak smile.

"Your fever is still down. Do you want some soup, sweetheart?"

"I guess. Thanks." Kurt nodded and looked at Blaine.

"Are you just coming on Tuesday and Thursday?" Blaine asked.

"I figured, if it's okay, that I'd at least stay tonight to help you keep an eye on him since he's still feeling pretty bad. After he's a bit better I'll just come on Tuesday and Thursday." Carole answered, moving towards their cupboard. "But only if that's alright with you boys."

"That's fine." Blaine said, even more relieved. While he wanted to take care of Kurt, part of him was afraid that Kurt would go back to how he'd been on Tuesday. Blaine had to admit it he felt safer knowing if it happened, someone else would be there. "Thank you."

"You boys are very welcome." Carole smiled.

"How are you doing?" David asked, sitting at the table next to Kurt with Melody.

Kurt reached out, tickling Melody's foot and offering a weak smile that actually looked more like a smile than a grimace. "Better than Tuesday."

"I'm sure you'll feel even better soon." David smiled in a reassuring way as Melody reached for Kurt.

"You've been on your medicine for four days. I think you're good to hold her if you want." Burt said, chuckling when Melody began to let out noises of protest at not being handed right over.

Kurt took her from David and snuggled her close, closing his eyes. She nuzzled his shoulder and went very still, enjoying being cuddled up with her brother.

"She won't do that with anyone else, hon." Carole said, moving to make Kurt some soup.

"She must think I'm boring." Kurt said softly, opening his eyes and feeling lightheaded. He felt Blaine's hand on his shoulder and leaned to the side slightly, resting against Blaine, more for support than anything.

"Do you want to lay down?" Blaine whispered.

"I don't want to but I feel like I need to." Kurt sighed, loosening his grip on Melody who gave him an agitated look.

"Sorry, pumpkin. Kurt needs to lay down." Blaine cooed, taking Melody and passing her to David. "Can you hold her?"

"Of course." David said, laughing as Melody got a silly grin on her face again and tugged at his hoodie string, having forgotten all about Kurt and his snuggles.

"Do you need help?" Carole asked Blaine as he easily lifted Kurt up.

"No. I've got it. Thanks." Blaine said, tightening his hold on Kurt when the younger boy relaxed against him. "Good thing I can carry you, hmm?"

"Mhmm." Kurt nodded into Blaine's shoulder. "You're very strong."

"I don't know about that. You're just very light." Blaine laughed, making his way out of the kitchen. "Couch or bed?"

"Couch is closer."

"That means you want to be in bed but don't want to say it." Blaine said, heading for their bedroom. He laid Kurt on the bed and pulled a sheet over him, tucking him in. "Do you want the comforter too? It's kind of warm in here."

"This is fine." Kurt snuggled under the sheet and blinked up at Blaine. "Carole just made me soup."

"Do you want it now? I can bring it to you." Blaine said, pushing back Kurt's messy hair. "Hmm?"

"I don't know." Kurt said, looking thoughtful. He let out a few loud coughs and then relaxed against his pillows. "Think she'll be upset if I eat it later?"

"Of course not." Blaine bent down and kissed his warm cheek. "Oh no. You feel really warm again. Will you eat some ice cream for me?"

"Mhmm." Kurt rolled onto his side and curled into a ball.

Blaine made his way downstairs. "I think he's getting a fever again."

"I'm going to go ahead and leave, Blaine." David said giving him a half hug. "Tell Kurt I hope he feels better."

"Thanks, David. I'll call you later." Blaine said, making his way to fridge as David left. He pulled out some vanilla ice cream and quickly scooped some into a bowl.

"His forehead felt fine a minute ago." Carole said sitting Melody down inside of a playpen that Burt had brought in. "I'll bring in some Tylenol and water in just a minute, hon."

"Thanks." Blaine grabbed a spoon and took the ice cream up to Kurt, who was still on his side and staring at the wall. "Here you go, my love. All we have is vanilla but I can go get you more."

"This is fine." Kurt gave him a small smile and set the bowl on the bed next to him, taking a few bites.

"Do you feel worse?" Blaine questioned. "Does your chest hurt? Can you breathe?"

"I feel a little worse, but I'm breathing okay." Kurt responded, taking another bite. "This really sucks, Blaine."

"I know it." Blaine ruffled his hair. "Just eat all of that ice cream."

"Here, hon. I brought you some Tylenol and some water. You feel worse?" Carole said, coming up to the bed and kneeling down by him.

Kurt sat up and took the water and pill, downing it. "Mainly my head."

"Tylenol should help." Carole said. "You just eat that ice cream and then get some sleep. The more rest you get, the better you'll feel."

"Okay." Kurt nodded, taking two more bites of his ice cream.

"Burt ran out to get more ice cream and popsicles, in case you wanted some." Carole stood. "I'm going to go check on Mellie and hopefully get her to take a nap. Let me know if you boys need anything."

Kurt nodded and took several more bites of his ice cream, looking absolutely miserable.

"You'll feel better soon." Blaine said, sliding into bed with him and rubbing his back.

"I just wish sooner was now." Kurt finished his ice cream and leaned back against Blaine, closing his eyes.

Blaine leaned over him and, after seeing his eyes were closed, draped an arm over him and began to quietly hum in his ear.

"Trying to put me to sleep?" Kurt mumbled sleepily.

"Mhm." Blaine said, rubbing his back.

"Well it's working." Kurt rolled to face him and burrowed his head in Blaine's chest. "Mmhloveyou."

"I love you too." Blaine smiled and hugged Kurt close, not even loosening his grip when he let out a tiny snore.

* * *

The next morning Kurt woke up, expecting to see Blaine's hand on his forehead. Instead when he opened his eyes he saw that it was Carole, looking concerned.

"Hey, hon. Sorry I woke you." She said apologetically. "I was just checking on you. You've got a tiny fever again. Do you feel okay?"

Kurt rolled over in response, stretching and trying to decide what the answer to that was. The movement made his stomach lurch and he shook his head. "I think I'm going to be sick."

She moved quickly to help him up, but was too late. He hunched over, throwing up all over the middle of the bed.

" _Shit_." He whimpered as Carole gently pulled him away from the huge pile of throw up, not even wrinkling her nose at the smell.

"C'mon, sweetie. Let's get you out of this bed. I don't want you to get any on you. Are you done?"

Kurt gagged a bit and nodded. After the nod, Carole eased him off of the bed and took him to a chair that was in the corner of their bedroom, having to move their school bags and sweaters off of it and onto the floor.

"Do you want some water?"

"Where's Blaine?" Kurt whimpered.

"He'll be back soon." Carole said quietly. "He's taking that exam. His teacher is letting him email it to her, but she gave him a specific time slot to do it in. So he can't come in right now."

Kurt nodded and leaned back against the chair, fighting the urge to cry even though he didn't know _why_. He was just tired and he didn't feel good.

"Oh, sweetie, he should be done soon. I think he had an hour and a half and it's been nearly an hour." Carole whispered, patting his hair down.

"It's not that. I just don't feel good." Kurt said, taking a deep breath and coughing.

"Do you have spare sheets, sweetheart?" she asked.

"I don't even know." Kurt mumbled, covering his face with his hand. He was having a hard time thinking of anything right now apart from how much his stomach hurt and how much his insides were burning.

Carole left the room and came back in a few seconds later, Blaine following behind her.

"No, you've got school work." Kurt moaned.

"I just finished." Blaine said easing Kurt into a standing position. "Do you need to throw up again?"

"No." Kurt shook his head.

"Okay. I'm going to get the blankets in the washer and Carole's going to get you to the couch. I'll be five minutes, okay? Probably less than that." Blaine kissed his forehead.

"Okay." Kurt said, very slowly walking into the living room with Carole behind him. She helped Kurt onto the couch, laughing when Blaine let out a horrified noise.

"I think he got some on himself." She laughed.

"Probably." Kurt relaxed against the couch pillows.

"I'm going to be more than five minutes, Kurt!" Blaine called from the other room.

Kurt just laughed a bit as Carole sat next to him. Without even thinking, he leaned over until her head was rested on his shoulder. When she was pregnant they'd sat close together, half cuddling a lot as they watched reality TV shows that Kurt wouldn't admit he'd seen to Blaine, but they really hadn't since then. Despite this, though, Kurt didn't move his head from her shoulder. He enjoyed Carole's company and, when she ran her fingers through his hair like she was, he remembered what it was like to have his own mom.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Kurt finally spoke. "Carole?"

"Yes, hon?" Carole asked, sounding concerned.

"You and Blaine are really close… Do you think he's mad at me?" Kurt whispered.

Carole reached up and stroked his hair back. "I think he's frustrated that you're in the situation, but I think he also understands that you've put yourself under a lot of pressure… No body is _mad_ at you, sweetie. Everyone is just concerned. We don't want to see you sick or hurting."

"Dad is pretty mad." Kurt mumbled.

"Yes, well, your father feels bad for yelling at you. He's just got a big temper sometimes. You know that." Carole said quietly.

Kurt shifted uncomfortably. "I was so scared that day at school. And then when Blaine took me to the hospital… I was so scared. I really thought that… well… you know."

Carole ruffled his hair a bit. "I know you're an adult, Kurt, and I know that it's your right to make your own decisions… But you have to take care of yourself, sweetie. You're the only one that can do that. No body else can keep you healthy."

"The work just piles up and it's hard to manage." Kurt admitted weakly.

"You don't have to do so much." Carole said softly, still stroking his hair. "It's _too_ much."

"I have to be full time because of my partial scholarship." Kurt sighed.

"You very well know that you are over full time, Kurt. I went to that first counseling appointment with you and even the adviser told you that it was a little too ambitious."

"But I stayed in it and got good grades." Kurt protested.

"At what cost? Malnutrition, pneumonia? Scaring not only everyone around you but yourself?" she asked, voice still soft. "What you've done since August—maybe even this summer while you worked so much—isn't healthy. Burt's worried, Blaine's worrying himself sick, I'm worried, and even Finn is worried about you. Burt hasn't even told your grandparents because he's positive your grandfather will demand you take a year off of school to 'find your brain.'"

"He probably would." Kurt sighed. "I'm trying so hard to… try to grow up and handle things and I keep failing miserably. I try to get ahead of the game in school and end up in the hospital."

"Part of being an adult is to find balance." Carole said. "What's the point in working so hard to get yourself to a good place if it does _this_ to you? Do you honestly enjoy it?"

Kurt shook his head. "No… I just feel like I have to. What should I do, Carole?"

"I think the best option is to finish this semester out, hon. But after this semester I think you should take right at full time or just a little over. You need to focus on eating healthy and sleeping. You _have_ to stay healthy, hon. Otherwise you'll be in and out of hospitals until you make yourself so sick that…" she trailed off.

Kurt took a deep breath. "O-Okay… I-I'll take less classes next semester. I don't want to put anybody through this anymore… especially Blaine."

"He was pretty scared." Carole said, reaching and squeezing Kurt's hand. "He loves you a lot, Kurt. He really and truly does. He's not mad, sweetie. He just wants what is best for you."

"I know." Kurt whispered, and smiled when Blaine came into the room, giving him a small wave.

"Hey, you." Blaine said, coming over and taking Carole's seat.

"Did you get throw up on you?" Carole laughed, ruffling his wet hair.

"Turns out it's best to hold the blankets out when you take them. Or at least wrap it so it doesn't get on you." Blaine nodded very seriously, but his eyes were bright. "But it's okay. Next time, I'll do it right."

"I certainly hope so." Carole laughed again. "I'll get some lunch made."

"Thanks." Kurt said, wiggling his body down until his head was rested on Blaine's chest.

Blaine laid his arms over Kurt's back, grinning. "You're stuck here forever. Does this bother you, Kurt?"

"Mmmh. Nope." Kurt mumbled into his chest.

"Would it bother you if I told you I was an alien?" Blaine laughed.

"Shh." Kurt tickled Blaine's side, causing him to squirm and let out a high pitched giggle. Kurt pulled back and smirked at a blushing Blaine. "Well, that was a noise I've never heard before."

"Shut up, Hummel." Blaine said.

* * *

"You're up early." Blaine yawned, coming into the kitchen two days later and seeing Kurt at the table drinking coffee.

He turned to face Blaine when he slid into the seat next to him, which already had a cup of coffee in front of it. "Morning, sleepyhead."

"Good morning." Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek and then took a drink of his coffee.

"Did you see your birthday cards on the table yesterday? My grandparents, Taylor, and your brother sent you one. Actually, there are two from your brother. Only I think one is from Danny because he colored all over the envelope." Kurt said, reaching and handing Blaine the envelopes-the colored one on top.

"Oh my God, this is too adorable for words!" Blaine exclaimed, setting the other envelopes down on the table and closely surveying the colored one. "Can I open it? Please? I have to open it!"

"It's your card." Kurt laughed.

"Yes, but my birthday isn't until tomorrow." Blaine pointed out.

"I think you can open _one_ card." Kurt said, facial expression very serious. "But only one, Blaine Anderson."

Blaine made an excited noise and very carefully opened the surprisingly large envelope, careful to not tear it any more than necessary. Inside it was a big piece of construction paper that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE BLAINE!" in block letters that Alex had clearly written, but that Danny had attempted to color in. The color just ended up everywhere, though, making it all the more adorable. There was also a huge actual picture of an excited looking baby Danny holding up the poster (which he was bending) and grinning adorably, his curls going everywhere and a few ever covering his eyes.

"Oh my God!" Kurt exclaimed, nearly melting into a puddle at the sight of the picture. Blaine's nephew was just _too_ _cute_. "Look at-I just-how is he so cute?"

"He is so precious!" Blaine laughed. "He looks so proud too!"

"Can we please hang these up on the refrigerator?" Kurt asked eagerly. "Think about it. Any time we're getting coffee as we're about to leave the house, we'll see it."

"Or we can frame it!" Blaine said, just as eagerly. It was almost ridiculous how excited he felt, but this was one of the few gifts from a family member that he had ever loved. And he truly loved this one. "And we can make a copy. Have the copy on the fridge, and the original in a frame."

"Someone is feeling better." Carole laughing, coming into the room. She looked down at the picture they were both exclaiming over and covered her mouth, letting out a happy laugh. "Oh, look at how sweet that little boy is. How precious!"

"We want to frame it and put a copy on the fridge." Kurt said, looking much happier and healthier than he had in days.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Carole smiled. "I'm going to head out and by some groceries for Blaine's dinner tomorrow-hush, Blaine, I'm making you a dinner. Is there anything else you boys need?"

Kurt made a motion with his hand and Carole nodded her understanding, but the sneakiness over the cake Kurt would later be baking wasn't necessary because Blaine was still too busy staring at the picture of his nephew.

"Do you need anything, Blaine?" Carole asked, ruffling his messy hair.

"No, but thank you." Blaine said, smiling at her before looking down at his homemade poster/birthday card.

"I'll be right back." Carole smiled at both of the boys and headed out of the house.

"That's so cute." Kurt let out a quiet laugh.

"I know." Blaine set it down reluctantly and took another drink of his coffee. "Thanks for the coffee."

"I figured you'd need it." Kurt smiled when Blaine rested his own hand over Kurt's on the table.

"Do you feel better?"

"Much." Kurt said honestly. "I'm sure staying in bed all day on Friday and Saturday did wonders."

"Well, that was the plan." Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's hand. "I'm glad you feel better, Kurt."

"Me too." Kurt said, setting his cup down and resting his other hand over Blaine's. "So... can we talk about it now? Get it over with, so tomorrow will be good?"

"Yeah. We should talk about it sooner than later." Blaine nodded. When he began to speak, it sounded as if Blaine had repeated his words over and over in his head. "Look... I'm not angry at you. I'm upset. I felt like you were taking care of yourself because you promised you would. I mean, I guess I assumed since you were home more that you were. You even made dinner tons of times, and I know that _I_ ate, but... well, I guess you weren't. I feel like when we come to these agreements, that you just agree so I'll shut up and I don't like that. I feel like I'm trying to work to make things better, but you aren't taking me seriously or something. I worry about you, Kurt. A lot. Because you work too hard and I was so worried something like this would happen. And, look, it did. I'm not telling you 'I told you so' or anything like that. I just... What is it going to take for you to realize what you're doing to yourself? Do you have any idea what it was like for me to get to _Alec's_ house and see you there like that, unable to even breathe? It was _horrible_. And to have to speed all the way to Columbus, just like I did last fall when..."

Blaine trailed off, unable to finish.

"Hey, look at me." Kurt said when Blaine looked down. He didn't speak again until Blaine's hazel eyes met his own blue ones. "I don't just agree so you'll shut up. I always have the intention of doing it."

"No, you don't." Blaine said softly. "You wanted me home more after first semester. I was home more. I quit working as much. I put a schedule together so I was only on campus 2 days a week instead of 5... Because I had the intention of doing it when I said I would. The second I say something, I figure out a way to make it happen and then it happens."

"Your schedule was because of gas too, Blaine." Kurt said.

"That doesn't matter, Kurt. Don't say you intended to do it. If you intended to do it, it would have been done."

Kurt sighed a bit and nodded.

"I'm not mad at you, Kurt. I'm upset because I feel like you went back on our agreement. I'm upset because I don't understand why you do this to yourself. I'm sad that this happened. It makes me feel like I should have done something more to ensure it didn't happen. It puts me in this really bad place. You do these things, but... but what can I do? I can't tell you what to do even though you're doing this stuff to yourself. So I just have to watch it happen and when it happens, you look like you did and you're so scared, and I should have stopped it but I couldn't. It broke my heart to see you like that… I don't even know if half of that made sense." Blaine sighed.

"It did." Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and then ran his fingers up and down the back of it.

"It's only Sunday. I'm worried that you won't stay home like you're supposed to." Blaine added. "The doctor said you had to stay home for a week. I'm scared you'll think you feel better, force yourself to go, and then you'll end up even sicker. What if you were to get that sick when driving, Kurt? You couldn't stay awake."

"I'm staying home the whole week." Kurt said firmly. "I'm doing exactly what the doctor told me, Blaine. I promise. I'm not going back until next Monday. And if I don't feel better then, I won't go then. I don't want this to happen again just like you don't. It _won_ _'_ _t_ happen again. I'll never knowingly let myself get this sick again."

"It's just not fair to put yourself through this. It's not fair to put the people around you through it either, but, mostly importantly you. You're not happy. I know you're not happy because of our conversation in the car." Blaine looked down. "And I just want you to be happy."

Kurt tilted his head up and kissed him. "I'm happy with you. Right here, right now."

"I want you happy for always."

"You're so cute." Kurt said, pressing their foreheads together. "I guess that just means you have to always stay at my side doesn't it?"

Blaine laughed quietly and kissed him. "I guess so, Mr. Hummel."

Kurt kissed his cheek and pulled back, staring into his eyes. "Would you mind… well, I already signed up for classes, but… would you mind looking at my schedule and helping me find something that's a little less… intensive? Not now, but later today."

Blaine looked thoughtful before nodding. "I don't know how much real help I'll be… but, yeah, I think we should do that. I really feel like having less school to worry about will make you feel a lot better about things. And it will make life easier for you all around. We don't have to kill ourselves here. We're going to be okay if we let ourselves be."

Kurt scooted close, linking his arm through Blaine's and resting his head on Blaine's shoulder. "I don't know what I would do without you, Blaine. I really can't imagine where I would be right now if we hadn't met at Dalton…"

"New York with Mercedes and Rachel." Blaine responded, resting his head against Kurt's.

"And you'd be in California or somewhere playing soccer." Kurt added. "Less hair gel would be involved, I assume."

"You assume right. There's nothing worse than hair gel running down your face and into your eyes." Blaine laughed. "But we would have ended up meeting."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Blaine said confidently. "You would have to work in California, do something at least. And we'd be going into the same coffee shop."

"You wouldn't be paying attention and would run into me, getting coffee all over some fabulous shirt." Kurt teased.

"And you would give me that 'bitch, please' look. And me, being the sexy soccer player I would have been, would have just kissed you right there."

Kurt let out a loud laugh. "Oh, really? Because it took you _months_ to realize you even liked me. But in California it would take you two seconds?"

"Yep."

"Well let's hope Rachel wasn't going to be with me for any reason, because you sure decided you liked her fast. Otherwise you might have left with her!"

"Ha ha ha ha _ha_." Blaine scowled. "Why don't I just use my inheritance and you get a set up on the Comedy Channel?"

"Nah. I'll reserve the jokes for only you and your humility." Kurt pulled his head back and gave Blaine an adorable smirk.

"You're going to kill me one of these days." Blaine teased, laughing and shaking his head.

"That would be unfortunate." Kurt said, kissing him again.

"Because you would have to wear so many black clothes?" Blaine grinned.

"Because I would have to wear so many black clothes." Kurt nodded, grinning right back.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: This story is AU, meaning it is an alternate universe. It is not meant to be exactly like the television show that we all know and love. What Brings Us Closer Together is loosely based off of canon but is not intended to be/follow canon.

Blaine had made a habit of waiting by the door. Actually, Kurt didn't know if he waited or just had real good hearing and could hear Kurt pull up outside and then ran to the door. Either way, though, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and now Thursday had consisted of Blaine stopping him at the door, too anxious to even let him properly inside first, and questioning him about how he was doing.

Kurt loved Blaine. Really, he did. But he had taken being a worry wart and over protective to an all new level ever since Monday when Kurt had attended his first classes since his hospital stay.

"And you're sure you feel better?"

"Yes, Blaine." Kurt said slowly.

"But now you've officially had your first full week of school. Are you sure it hasn't been too much for you to handle?" His older boyfriend asked worriedly, hazel eyes focusing on him.

"Yes, Blaine."

"And you _promise_ you ate breakfast and lunch?"

"Yes, Blaine. I promise." Kurt reassured him. "Can I come in?"

Blaine barely heard his question, if at all, because he continued on with one of his own. "And you withdrew from those extra classes you planned on taking next semester?"

"I'll do that right now if you'll _let_ _me_ _in_ _the_ _door_."

"Oh." Blaine gave Kurt a sheepish smile, stepping aside. "Sorry."

"At least it's not raining like it was yesterday." Kurt laughed, making his way into the house.

Blaine put his arms on Kurt's waist, tugging him close. "Hello."

"Hi." Kurt said, smiling at him. "You got home a little early. I usually beat you on Thursdays at least."

"They didn't make me work today. They said they didn't need me." Blaine said cheerfully, hands still firmly on Kurt's waist. "And _I_ thought that it would be an excellent idea if we…"

"Yes?" Kurt asked, still smiling.

"Went to _Olive_ _Garden_ …"

"Ooh." Kurt said interestedly.

"And _then_ went to…" Blaine said, smiling adorably.

"Where? Where?" Kurt said, bouncing a little.

" _The_ _Cheesecake_ _Factory_."

"Oh God, I love you. Even if you are trying to fatten me up." Kurt said, kissing Blaine. A trip to Olive Garden (the only place both boys could wholeheartedly agree on without persuasion) and the Cheesecake Factory definitely made up for his daily incessant questioning.

Blaine grinned. "I figure you can pay since you still feel bad for being sick on my birthday."

"Oh-ho, do you?" Kurt rolled his eyes. "Fine, deal. Even though I _still_ made you your fishie cake and still got you that Nook case you're been freaking out over since Christmas."

"And the credit for more books." Blaine said. "And a new cardigan."

"Yep. But, because I am a good boyfriend, I will _still_ pay for your dinner and your cheesecake."

" _My_ cheesecake? You'll scarf the whole thing down before I can even look at it." Blaine laughed. "We may as well get two full cheesecakes. Then there will be one piece for me and the rest for you."

Kurt scoffed. "You are horrible."

Blaine just laughed again and kissed him, clearly excited. "I know, I know. So… can we go? Are you caught up enough for us to have a date night?"

"We don't have classes tomorrow and then it's the weekend, so I think we can." Kurt said, glad that he didn't even hesitate. He had been trying to take it slow—coming home straight from classes (sometimes after random chats with Alec, but he wasn't doing school work so it didn't count), not continuing to do catch-up work once he started to get tired, and taking several breaks. Taking it slow had worked wonder for his mood—or maybe that was the fact that he was regularly eating and sleeping again.

"Awesome. I've been dying for their salad for _days_." Blaine said, finally letting go of Kurt. "Let's go now!"

"Now?" Kurt asked.

"Yep. Before you change your mind." Blaine took Kurt's bag, set it on the couch, and then dragged Kurt out of the house without giving him a chance to speak.

* * *

"Alex is coming down when we go on the Michigan trip." Blaine said after swallowing some left over cheesecake later that night, sitting on the couch next to Kurt with his legs tucked underneath him.

"Oh. Do you want to wait to go?" Kurt asked, taking another bite of his cheesecake and turning so that their knees were touching.

"No. He's coming to make sure they don't show up. He had to come eventually before the meeting, so he figured it just worked out that way." Blaine said, rolling his eyes as Kreacher pranced in.

"Meeting?"

"About the inheritance." Blaine shrugged. "It's in September this year."

"Well if you have to go, I'm going with you. I don't trust you alone with your dad, even if Alex and other family members are there." Kurt said instantly, surprising Blaine.

"You would really go into a room full of several men _just_ like my Dad?" Blaine asked, blinking at him.

"Yes." Kurt said simply.

Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for that, but you don't have to worry about it. Alex said I didn't have to go. He's just bringing me the papers to sign like last time… I don't think they want me there, really. I'm sure Dad's pissed that I know it's still my money."

"You didn't want to go, right?" Kurt asked. "Because if you want to go, your dad can just stuff a sock in it."

Blaine snorted loudly and took another bite of his cheesecake. "No. I don't want to go to that at _all_. I wouldn't want to see all of those people, mostly. But I went to one of the meetings when I was fourteen because mom couldn't watch me. It was so boring and confusing. It was just some lawyer listing off names, amounts of money, interest stuff… I wouldn't get what was going on, so it's not worth the drive. Alex can just fill me in."

Kurt moved so he was sitting normally on the couch and rested his head on Blaine's shoulder. "Good. I don't want you around them."

"Aw, Kurt. You sound so protective." Blaine said, smiling adorably.

"I just don't want you around them… They upset you and I don't like you upset. If you ever have to be around them, I want to be there." Kurt shrugged. "Besides, I just don't trust them. Just the thought of your dad… he just gives me a bad vibe, Blaine. I don't like him."

"Bad vibe?" Blaine asked.

Kurt sighed a bit. "I wouldn't want him alone with you is all… I know the stuff he says to you and about you. I guess I'm worried he might take it to the next level some time. I know he pushed you down more than once and… I just don't trust him."

Blaine offered him a weak smile. "Deal. I won't be around my Dad without you."

"Okay." Kurt gave him a weak smile back. "Now, back to the topic at hand. Michigan. What were you saying?"

"Alex is staying longer than planned to make sure they don't make any impromptu visits to the house." Blaine resumed. "I don't know how long you'll want to stay, but we'll be going at the beginning of July—if that's okay with you. We'll leave and be back before Melody's birthday. I figured we could get there late Monday night and leave Saturday or Sunday. Unless you don't want to stay there that long. Then we'll—."

"I think we should plan to stay however long you want to stay. We'll come home when _you_ _'_ _re_ ready to leave." Kurt interrupted. "This is your trip, after all. This is your break."

"But I want you to have a nice vacation and enjoy it too." Blaine said.

"I'll enjoy it." Kurt assured him. "It will be nice. We can sit on the beach and eat that fudge you've been going on and on about. I hope it lives up to my expectations."

"Oh, it'll live up to your expectations. You'll get _cravings_ for it, Kurt. _Cravings_. Worse than cheesecake ones." Blaine said confidently.

"I don't know if I believe _that_. I really like cheesecake." Kurt laughed. "And if it's true, should you really subject me to it?"

"Ah, but it's a delicious subjection." Blaine responded. "The best kind ever."

"Are we driving straight through?" Kurt asked, draping his arm around Blaine's thin waist.

"Yeah. I'm used to it. It won't be a problem."

"Well I can help drive too, you know... so we make it before the week is up." Kurt teased, not even bothering to hide his smirk.

"You say I'm horrible? Look what you do to me!" Blaine laughed. "You can help if you want, but there's no pressure."

"I want to." Kurt answered. "It's my gift to you, after all. You shouldn't have to do work to get there."

"If you insist." Blaine said, wrapping his own arm around Kurt and pulling him even closer, not really caring that their position wasn't exactly the most comfortable in the world. It was just nice to be close to Kurt and not be sleeping for once.

"We are so easily distracted." Kurt laughed a bit, nuzzling him. "So we're driving straight through... are you sure you don't want to stay at a hotel and not risk anything with your parents?"

"They won't show up. I'm sure. It's fine." Blaine nodded. "I really want to see the house and my room again. It's the most comfortable bed _ever_ , Kurt. And there are some pictures I'd like to take, and probably some more stuff I haven't even thought of yet. Trust me when I say that you are going to love the house and the view. The beach is only a two minute walk away... It's not the kind of beach you're probably thinking, though..."

"I expected it to be a smaller one... Are the ships interesting?"

Blaine laughed a bit.

"What?" Kurt asked, looking confused. "What'd I say?"

"Well, it's not really _ships_. It's mostly sail boats... every once in a while an actual ship will come, but it's usually not on purpose."

"Oh. Like... tiny sail boats? With one sail?"

Blaine laughed again. "Some of them look like that and some of them don't. There are some pretty big sail boats. You'd be surprised."

"Sorry I don't have an extensive knowledge of sail boats and ships." Kurt said, raising his hands dramatically. "The biggest ship I've ever seen is that one on Pirates of the Caribbean and God knows I wasn't exactly looking at the ship."

"Me neither." Blaine said thoughtfully. He had definitely spent most of the movie staring wide eyed at the actors. Especially Orlando Bloom.

" _Anyway_! Blaine, stop doing that!"

"Hey, you asked me the questions!" Blaine laughed.

"Yeah but now you're thinking about Orlando Bloom." Kurt huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"But he's incredibly sexy."

"Okay, okay. We're staying at the house until the weekend. What else?" Kurt said, trying his hardest to keep the conversation on track—even though he was clearly failing.

"That's it, I guess. We'll walk around, visit shops. We may venture out of Harbor Springs... see if we can find a nice shopping center for you that doesn't consist solely of a Payless and a pet store, because all the ones within fifty miles are pretty much... Payless and pet stores." Blaine said. "Although, the pet store nearest us _does_ sell these alligators and even sharks. I tried to bring an alligator home once... but then I let slip that I live in Ohio and its apparently illegal here."

"I'm not surprised at all." Kurt laughed, leaning up and kissing Blaine's jaw.

"It's so nice to just sit here and talk." Blaine let out a content little sigh, pulling Kurt even closer. "I've missed this so much. Just... being together. We don't even have to be talking, you know? Just sitting with you, close like this... I could stay on this couch for you, just like this, forever."

Kurt smiled and kissed Blaine's jaw again.

"Well, until I had to pee."

"You just ruined a perfectly good, heart warming moment, Blaine Anderson." Kurt huffed, swatting his stomach.

"Sorry." Blaine said, not looking apologetic in the slightest. "At least I didn't just go, 'Oh wait, I have to pee' and get up. Now _that_ would have been worse."

"Oh God." Kurt buried his face in Blaine's side, gripping his other side tightly. "I don't know what makes me put up with you sometimes. You're such a boy."

"I'd hope so." Blaine laughed. "Seeing as you're, you know, gay... and I am, you know, also gay. Meaning we're both gay. Meaning we like boys. And we are boys."

"How much coffee did you have this morning, sweetie?" Kurt laughed himself, pushing himself into a sitting position.

"Well I had the cup you made me this morning, I stopped for one at McDonald's near campus because I was bored and early, I got Starbucks between my last classes, I got coffee at the gas station on my way home because I was tired..."

Kurt's eyes widened. "Blaine! You're probably going to have a heart attack!"

Blaine decided he shouldn't add, 'And I had another before you got home,' so he just smiled sheepishly. "I like caffeine."

"Lay off of it, honey. You want to live to the age of thirty. That is _four_ cups of coffee. And you always get huge cups, too." Kurt said.

"I've become used to it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's part of the routine." Blaine shrugged.

"Did you do this last semester when you had school five days a week?"

"I'm not trying to put myself into a premature death, Kurt." Blaine said, raising his eyebrow at his younger boyfriend.

"Of course not." Kurt said, relaxing back against Blaine. "Did you have a good day at school?"

"Mmh, it was a day. We talked about Pluto not being a planet in my Brit Lit class... and then I brought up how depressed I was when they told me tomatoes were fruits when I spent my entire childhood thinking it was a vegetable." Blaine shrugged.

"You talked about this in your upper level English course?" Kurt asked slowly.

"Tons of people are always late, so we tend to spend the first ten minutes talking about nothing." Blaine laughed. "Then again, half the time people end up just not showing up... and then we get the spiel on how we shouldn't skip class since we pay for it... although he's telling those of us who attend class..."

"I love listening to you talk." Kurt said, letting out a happy sigh and sliding his hand up Blaine's shirt, gently stroking his side.

"I love listening to you talk too." Blaine said, smiling and scooting _just_ _a_ _little_ closer to Kurt's touch. "How was your day?"

"It was okay... Alec has it in his brain that he has to make sure I eat, for _some_ _reason_." Kurt said, sending a look at Blaine. "So he keeps taking me to this little shop type place. We get food and then walk to our next class."

"You mean he's making sure you eat?"

"Apparently _someone_ told him that I forget to eat and get light headed, which is 'completely dangerous' since I drive such a long way to and from home." Kurt scoffed. "Besides, there's this creepy old guy who keeps hitting on him and there's safety in numbers... I guess I don't mind. It's kind of nice to finish the day not hungry and to have someone on campus to eat with."

"Yeah." Blaine nodded. "I used to meet Finn on Friday's for pizza before dinners, remember? And I meet up with some of the Kennedy's guys for lunch on campus. It's nice to have people to talk to outside of class."

"He's really nice, Blaine." Kurt said softly. "Alec is."

"He seemed nice enough." Blaine mumbled.

"He said you were adorable." Kurt laughed. "He wanted to know where I found you."

"Doesn't he have a boyfriend?" Blaine said, voice still coming out in mumbles.

"Yes." Kurt nodded. "They've been dating since he was fourteen. Isn't that cute?"

"I guess." Blaine shrugged. "He said something about his boyfriend being in pre-med."

"No. Med school. In Toledo, I think he said." Kurt said. "They stay together on the weekends and stuff... his boyfriend sounds a lot like you, actually. I don't know. When he talks about him, it just reminds me of you."

"Does he talk about him a lot?"

"Mhm." Kurt said, closing his eyes. "I talk about you more though."

"Really?" Blaine felt himself smile.

"Of course." Kurt nuzzled his stomach. "I love to talk about you."

"I talk about you a lot too." Blaine admitted. "All of the girls I work with want to meet you. I think they're hoping you'll come visit me at work and become their best friend. That's probably why they keep me around."

"No. I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with your personality." Kurt joked, fingers still stroking his side.

Blaine shuffled even closer, breathing in Kurt's scent.

Kurt moved his hand from under Blaine's shirt and smoothed down some of his curls, snorting loudly when he moved his hand and they curled right back up.

"Stop it, Kurt." Blaine said, raising up to eye him. "Two can play that game and I am much better at it than you."

" _Fine_." Kurt let out a dramatic sigh and slid his hand back up Blaine's shirt, stroking his side. "I know when to admit defeat."

Blaine instantly lowered himself again, snuggling close to Kurt.

"I really do need to start calling you my snuggle bunny." Kurt giggled. "You can't use the excuse that it's cold out anymore, Blaine."

"Why are you so mean to me?" Blaine whined halfheartedly.

"The fact that you're so short makes you an easy target." Kurt bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

"I hate you, Kurt."

"I love you too." Kurt grinned.

* * *

"Blaine! What are you doing here, hon? Is everything okay?" Carole asked worriedly as she opened the front door the following Wednesday to find an anxious Blaine standing on her doorstep.

"Uh, I'm fine. I just... Can we... talk?" Blaine asked, stepping in and looking nervous.

"Of course, sweetie. I just put Melody down for a nap. What's going on? Are you sure everything is okay?" Carole closed the door behind him and led him to the couch, looking extremely confused.

"I just..." Blaine sighed a bit, wondering if he had made a mistake in coming to talk to Carole. At the same time, though, they were close and he really felt like he needed to talk to her. He didn't know why, he just did. "Kurt's..."

"Are you two fighting again?"

"No! No, no." Blaine said quickly, shaking his head. "Everything is going really, really well. We've been great and he feels a lot better."

Carole let out a relieved sigh and nodded. "Well good. What's going on then?"

"It does kind of having something to do with the last fight..." Blaine bit his lip. "He's... I can tell that he misses coming here every week. I know I don't make him stay home. He can come home on Fridays because I just go and hang out with David and get pizza and stuff... but he doesn't want to, because he feels like he can't come here or I'll feel bad or something."

Carole nodded, listening carefully.

"He's sad... and I think the only way that he won't be is if things go back to normal. But I don't think they will." Blaine tucked one foot underneath him and took another deep breath. "I just feel so stupid."

"What for?" Carole asked, looking confused.

"Because I always thought he liked me."

"Sweetheart, Burt _does_ like you." Carole put her hand on his leg and squeezed. "He likes you very much."

"I don't think he does. I don't know if he ever really did." Blaine admitted. "It's like... at that fight... it's like he was just waiting for the opportunity. He just barged in, said all his stuff, and left it at that. I don't think he ever would have apologized if you and Kurt hadn't made him. And I don't even think he thinks he was in the wrong. Because he still went back to the same stuff when Kurt was in the hospital-I don't take care of Kurt, it was my fault."

"Burt is just very protective with anything concerning Kurt... He has a bit of a temper too, and sometimes I don't think he's the best at controlling it— especially when Kurt is involved. He was completely in the wrong then and he even told you that night, on his own, that he was sorry... He just took his frustration out on you, hon. I'm not saying it was right... but I don't think you need to take anything that happened in the hospital to heart. We all know that you take excellent care of Kurt. You did everything you could when he was sick, honey. You came home, got him to a doctor, stayed up half the night when he was coughing and couldn't breathe properly, you cleaned up his vomit, got him food. Tell me you didn't take care of him."

Blaine sighed. "I know. But I think Burt thinks I should just lock him up and force feed him and force him to sleep every day until he dies. Otherwise, I'm not doing a good enough job."

Carole sighed this time. "It's hard for him. He's used to being the one there for Kurt and Kurt grew up on him. I'm sure your mom didn't take you going away to college well... before the Kurt thing. It was a lot farther away than Dalton."

"She didn't care." Blaine said, his voice quiet. He wished it didn't hurt to say that. He wished _he_ didn't care.

"Hon, yes she-."

"No." Blaine interrupted. "She didn't. They wanted me to go farther away. They always wanted me far away."

"Blaine, they're your parents. I know what happened with Kurt was horrible but maybe... one day you three could make up..."

"You don't understand." Blaine whispered. "They've always acted like this. Until last fall, though, they had nothing 'bad enough' on me to kick me out without my grandmother getting on their case."

Carole looked at him.

"When I was twelve they started sending me to conversion camps during the summer. That's what they were talking about on the phone that one day last year. They sent me to camp every single summer. Desist."

"That terrible camp that was on the news last year?" Carole gasped. "Oh, Blaine…"

"And when I was fourteen, my parents sent me to Dalton. I had been bullied, I wanted to go... but they really sent me because it was election time, or nearing it, and they didn't want people finding out that I was gay. Because it was spreading around the school I went to like wildfire. So they sent me there, far on the other side of Westerville." Blaine continued. "And then, when I was fifteen, I did something really _stupid_ and I got kicked out of the camp... My dad was furious, and w-well, at first he wouldn't talk to me. He wouldn't even be in the same room with me... So I started doing stupid things more because I was miserable and I just didn't care... and Dad found out about what I was doing and... and it g-got even worse. It was mostly just really bad yelling, but he said horrible things, and a few times it started to get physical..."

Carole stared at him, in complete shock.

"And then one day, I got home early from Wes' house a-and I heard him and my grandmother talking a-about..." Blaine stared ahead, no expression on his face. "About something I wasn't supposed to hear. And I dropped this bag I was holding-Wes' mom had made me food to bring home because I would skip meals a lot and just stay in my bedroom. But it was on a plate and they heard it. So I went to my room and after my grandmother left, my dad came up and we got into it worse than before. And he was trying to drag me somewhere, I don't know where, but we just kept yelling and yelling because what they're doing _isn't_ _right_ and it's not fair to anyone, and he almost pushed me down the stairs. I think he meant to, but I caught the banister."

"Blaine..." Carole whispered, horrified.

"So I left. I left, they kicked me out. I don't know which, really. I left willingly, but I wasn't welcome back. But, see, my grandmother was afraid I would tell and said that they had to bring me home. And I came… David told me I should have stayed with him, but I wanted to hope that it would be different, like they said. But it wasn't different. They just said it to get me back there. It was worse. It was always worse. And I ended up leaving again and after that I very rarely came back. When I was coming back 'to see family' I was always staying with David or Wes. As long as I saw Mom once or twice a year, especially holidays, they would pay my Dalton tuition and UK tuition. It looked better that way, if I saw them occasionally. Otherwise people started to talk. So I would meet mom for lunch somewhere for less than an hour and go back to Wes or David's house. Not my own home. So, no. Things won't settle down one day. And I don't want them to. I hate them. I really hate them and even if they wanted me in their lives later on, I wouldn't do it." Blaine spoke quickly, barely pausing to take breaths. When he was done, he clenched his fist and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Does Kurt know all of this?" Carole asked, touching his cheek.

"Most. H-He knows most. He doesn't know the exact reason I left home. I didn't lie… I just left something out." Blaine frowned. "I don't even… just…"

"Honey… are you okay?" Carole asked, looking into his eyes.

"I haven't had a family since I was twelve." Blaine whimpered. "And that's why I'm so upset over this stuff. It's because I was stupid to think that Kurt's could be a fill in. I'm so angry with myself. I don't even know why I'm telling you. I just… after Kurt's accident, and you guys let me in, and I was around this _real_ family… and I felt like I belonged."

"Oh, honey…" Carole repeated, still staring at him and looking heart broken.

"I'm so stupid. You're so n-nice to me and Burt was always so nice until the fight and it just showed me how utterly and completely stupid I was to think that he might like me as anything besides his son's significant other. But we did stuff together. We talked a lot—especially when Kurt was in the hospital the first time. We went to the OSU football games together and got pizza with Finn after. I thought he was bonding with me because he liked me and that I was becoming a part of a family."

Carole moved her hand and squeezed his shoulder. "Not becoming, Blaine. You _are_ a part of this family. Every single person positively adores you, sweetheart. _Including_ _Burt_. He wants this thing to be done with… And I think you're here today because you want it over too, right?"

Blaine gave a small nod. "I'm upset about the fights, don't get me wrong… but I think I'm more upset about…" he trailed off.

"What?"

"I thought he liked me. I thought we were close, or at least getting close. It just sucks that I felt as if I had a place where I belonged¸ where I felt accepted for who I was… and… I wanted to belong here, and I feel like it's ruined. I think I'm more upset that… it was like waving a treat in front of me and then taking it away."

"Hon… talk to Burt." Carole said, squeezing his shoulder again. "He cares about you a whole lot. He's paying for UK. Would he do that if he didn't, hon?"

"I don't know." Blaine sighed heavily.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to check on Melody really fast." Carole stood and left the room, leaving Blaine to his thoughts. She came back in a few minutes later, a cup of coffee in each hand. "Here, sweetie."

"Thanks." Blaine took a sip and sat it on the table, not really in the mood for coffee— _not_ _in_ _the_ _mood_ _for_ _coffee_.

"Why didn't you tell me about your parents, Blaine? I just assumed that things weren't bad before Kurt's accident. Of course, after they cut you off I knew they may not have been happy with your being gay, but I never thought it would have been that horrible for you."

"I don't like to talk about it. It's hard to even think about." Blaine chewed on his lip. "I'm better now. I'm with Kurt. He loves me."

"Of course he does." Carole said, offering him a small smile. "But, sweetie… You _need_ to talk about these things. Do you and Kurt talk about it?"

"Sometimes." Blaine shrugged. "Usually on when it gets to be too much."

"I think you should talk with Kurt more… or maybe your friend David? He seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders."

"I bother David and Wes with everything." Blaine sighed and stood up. "I'm just going to go. I think I want to be home right now. Thanks for listening."

"Sweetie…" Carole stood. "I'm sorry you're parents treated you like that. It breaks my heart to know that someone as sweet as you…" she fell silent for several moments before speaking again. "I think it would be really good if you and Kurt came tonight for dinner or after dinner. I think you should talk to Burt about how you feel and _why_ you feel that way."

"I'll think about it." Blaine said.

"Good. You really should consider it, hon." She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "Don't worry about your parents. That period of your life is over. I don't care if it was the fact that you were gay or whatever it was that you did when you were fifteen… you never deserved any of that."

"Thanks, Carole." Blaine said, returning the hug.

"Come tonight, Blaine. I think you'll feel better once you talk to Burt and get this settled. I know he wants this resolved too." Carole gave him a small smile.

"Maybe. I'll… I'll think about it." Blaine nodded and went to the door. "See you later."

"Be careful, sweetie. And cheer up. Everything will work out."

"I know." Blaine forced a smile back at her and then made his way to his car.

* * *

"I called Dad and told him you wanted to talk to him. He said he'd come here, though. He doesn't want to make us drive all the way out there. Apparently the weather's about to get nasty tonight." Kurt said the next evening, coming into the apartment and dropping his messenger bag to the ground.

Blaine took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright."

"I'm so glad you two are finally going to talk this out." Kurt threw himself over the couch, legs dangling over the armrest. "It's been _months_. You know I love you, Blaine, but you need someone to talk sports with. Just because I know the logistics doesn't mean I am particularly fond of carrying out entire conversations of how fast that Pipps guy can kick a ball."

"I can't sit on the arm rest but you can have your legs over it?" Blaine rolled his eyes. "You look like a kid. Especially in that shirt."

"Lay off the shirt. It's fabulous."

"It'd be more fabulous if it wasn't canary yellow." Blaine mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that, Blaine Anderson."

"You were mean _tooo_."

Kurt sighed and moved into a normal sitting position, clapping his hands together. "I'm tired."

"Tired?" Blaine asked, clapping his own hands mockingly.

" _Soo_ tired." Kurt nodded. "I kept waking up last night because of Kreacher."

"What was he doing? He didn't wake me up."

"A freight train could tear through the house, sweetheart, and you'd sleep through it. I'm not surprised." Kurt laughed, waving Blaine over and then tugging him down by his arm as soon as he was within reach. Blaine sat down on the couch, leaning against Kurt. "He was playing with that stupid squeaking toy that Finn brought him last week. Any time I try to take it away he bites me."

To prove his point, Kurt raised his right arm which had very tiny nip marks and scratches.

"Kreacher did that?" Blaine gasped.

"Ran into a table corner at school with that one." Kurt said, pointing to the large one. "All others are your fault because you bought me the dog."

"We can give it away." Blaine said hopefully.

"We are not giving my child away." Kurt said sharply. "The scratches aren't even that noticeable."

"But think of the squeaky toy he won't let you get rid of. Think of how much more often we have to vacuum and wash sheets. Think of how you stepped in a puddle of dog pee in your comfy socks. Didn't that just piss you off?" Blaine urged.

Kurt just rolled his eyes again. "You are a horrible person, Blaine."

"You're starting to sound like David." Blaine laughed a bit, resting his head against Kurt's. "Are you sure I should do this?"

"Tell Dad why you're so upset? Yes." Kurt said. "It might help him to understand that it wasn't _just_ the arguments… Besides… I do feel like he should know. Especially now that you told Carole."

"I didn't tell her everything." Blaine said. "But I did tell her a lot."

Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine's curls. "Did she make you feel any better?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Blaine shrugged and sat up. "Do you think it's… I don't know… Strange that I… I don't know… that I felt like I belonged?"

"You did. You _do_ , Blaine." Kurt said, pulling him back down.

"Is it weird that I want to?"

"It's most certainly not weird." Kurt reassured him, pressing a kiss to the side of his face.

"Well do you think your dad is going to think I'm creepy?"

"You worry so much when it comes to anything family related." Kurt hugged him. "Dad won't think you're weird. If anything, he's going to feel like an absolute jerk for making you feel like you don't belong… It's always good when he feels guilty, Blaine. Use it to your advantage. I got half of my wardrobe that way."

Blaine gave a small laugh as the doorbell rang.

Kurt released his hold on Blaine and kissed the side of his face.

"Don't leave me alone with him." Blaine whispered, anxiety immediately evident on his face.

"I won't." Kurt promised, standing shaking his head with an almost amused smile on his face. When he reached the door he opened it and said, "Hey, Dad!" before hugging him.

Blaine took several short but deep breaths, waving when Burt made his way into the room enough so that he could see Blaine.

"Hey, bud." Burt said, a little awkwardly.

"Hello." Blaine responded quietly from the couch.

Kurt joined Blaine on the couch while Burt sat in an adjacent chair, watching them patiently.

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to say." Blaine said, looking down at his hands.

"It's not about what you're _supposed_ to say. It's about what you want to say." Kurt said softly.

"I… I don't know. It's… I don't understand." Blaine said, almost helplessly. He turned his attention to Burt, deciding to not draw it out any longer. He was going to bite the bullet and just go for it. "I know we fought and I have apologized so many times to Kurt about it, but you never should have come to Cincinnati like you did… It was like you'd been just _waiting_ for the opportunity to go off on me."

Burt said nothing, just kept his eyes on Blaine much like Carole had. In fact, Blaine had a suspicion that Carole had told him to sit silently until Blaine was done—and, if she had, he w as grateful for that. It made it easier.

"I don't get it because… I thought things were finally different now."

Still, Burt said nothing but now he looked a little confused.

"It's like my whole life… my parents h-hated me because I was gay. My dad and I would get into such bad fights that, more than once, he would push me down during."

Kurt's hand slid into Blaine's and he squeezed Blaine's hand tightly. Blaine saw anger flash through Burt's eyes quickly, and it didn't leave. "They sent me to a conversion camp and it was _horrible_. Then I'd come home and hear all the same stuff from my dad. I was run out of my school because of bullies —people that I'd played with on a team for years, who were supposed to be my friends, were the worst bullies of them all. Not long after that started to get worse, I was run out of my home by my grandmother, who couldn't have people finding out about her depressed, gay grandson."

Burt opened his mouth to speak, but Kurt shook his head, knowing that if Blaine stopped he wouldn't continue, and so Burt didn't speak.

"And when I was fifteen or s-sixteen m-my dad kicked me out o-of the house… b-because…" Blaine trailed off, finding it harder to talk.

"Because why?" Burt questioned, looking concerned. They were getting into rougher territory—his teenage promiscuity and, of course, the thing with his father that had really pushed everything over the edge—the thing Kurt didn't even know about. The thing _David_ _and_ _Wes_ didn't even really know about.

Blaine shook his head quickly. "And I went t-to stay with David and Wes' family off and on… They were nice and everything; they liked me and I liked them. They were welcoming… but I just always f-felt like this little stray puppy that their kids had to beg them to keep. They accepted me. Even though David's family is super religious and went to our church, they were always very k-kind. I felt accepted but I didn't feel like I _belonged_." Blaine took a deep breath.

Kurt stroked the back of Blaine's thumb with his own, urging him on silently. Knowing Kurt was there made him feel more at ease and he squeezed Kurt's hand tightly, trying to convey that without words.

"And you, Carole, and Finn were always so nice to me… even before we dated. And then after Kurt got hurt, and I came up… We both wanted the same thing. We wanted Kurt healthy, out of the hospital, able to move on… When my parents cut me off, you still let me stay with you and you even paid for me to go to school. Finn and I would hang out, Carole and I talked _all_ the time, and you and I got along really well. We went to games together, we watched them together on the television, you stood up against my dad, you talked to me and… I'm not saying it was, like… I'm just…" He trailed off again.

"Kid—."

"I felt like part of the family." Blaine said, voice a little louder than necessary. "And now I see how stupid that was. I'm not. I won't be."

"Blaine…" Kurt whispered.

"I don't know what I did. Was I just imagining it? Or did I say something wrong? I didn't do anything to you apart from defend myself that one day. And every single time I see you, I just want to go in the opposite direction because I am _so_ _stupid_ to think that you ever would have... that anyone would have accepted me into a family as amazing as the one that you all have when I come from a family like mine where the most happiness we get comes from _leaving_."

"Kid, stop it." Burt said, voice gruff and firm.

Blaine fell silent, but looked away.

"You are really good at making people feel guilty, you know that?" Burt attempted to joke.

"I'm just saying what I think. That's what you wanted." Blaine mumbled.

"Listen to me, and listen to me good, because I don't say anything I'm about to say lightly." Burt said, lowering his voice. "I've got a temper. A pretty bad one sometimes, especially when Kurt is involved. I'm not trying to excuse my actions… I tried to give you your space after that one in February because that's what Carole asked me to do. I never wanted things to be so on edge with us when you came to that last dinner, Blaine. Truth is, I _do_ like you. A hell of a lot. There aren't many people who would stand up to their boyfriend's father's like you did in that hospital. Whether or not we see eye to eye on things, you've got Kurt's best interest at heart."

Blaine forced himself to look up at Burt.

"I respect you, Blaine. I didn't know you went through all that… I knew your parents weren't happy you dropped out for Kurt… I'm sorry that your parents and your family… Wow." Burt let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Look, bud… you're not stupid. And I never meant to make you feel that way…"

"You're a part of the family." Kurt added, moving his hand and sliding his arm around Blaine's waist. "Unfortunately everyone in the family has to be subjected to Dad's temper once or twice… Just ask Finn. It's really kind of like being inducted _into_ the family."

Blaine leaned against Kurt, not looking convinced.

"I never wanted you to feel like you didn't belong, Blaine. You _do_ belong. You are extremely welcome in my house any time you want to be there. Truth is, I miss talking sports with you. I miss talking with you in general. Because I _like_ you. I think we've both spent so long convinced we know what's better for Kurt when, maybe, we should have been more like a team… y'know, putting our ideas together or something. You're the college kid, after all. Maybe I could take some advice from you." Burt let out a chuckle, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Blaine opened his mouth but closed it again, not saying anything.

"I don't like the way things are." Burt said. "I want to work on them… And I'm very sorry for making you feel that way."

"It's okay." Blaine finally said, voice soft. "Thank you for apologizing."

Burt gave a small nod, making eye contact with him. "So you two will be at dinner tomorrow? And we'll maybe talk more?"

"Yeah." Blaine nodded, giving a weak smile.

"Good." Burt let out a sigh—it sounding more relieved than aggravated, and stood. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Blaine."

"Alright." Blaine nodded again. "See you."

"I'm going to walk Dad out." Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and then stood, following his dad out of the apartment. Blaine ran his fingers through his hair, letting out a deep sigh of relief. He knew the time would come when Burt would want to talk about Blaine's parents—at least, Blaine assumed it would.

Still, at least it looked like things were going to look up. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders¸ like he could _breathe_. He just found himself hoping—praying—that things went back to exactly how they were. He knew Kurt's family wasn't technically his own, but it was the closest thing he had to family. It was just nice to feel like he belonged.

* * *

"OH MY GOD! SHE'S WALKING!" Kurt exclaimed the very next day as he made his way into his old living room, having let himself in instead of waiting for someone to come to the door. "SHE'S WALKING!"

"Walking tends to come soon after standing." Burt chuckled from the table.

"Act like you didn't say the same thing." Carole said from the stove once Kurt finally made it into the kitchen. "Hello, hon. You look so much better!"

"I feel better… Oh my God, Blaine, Melody is walking. Get in here faster!" Kurt called. "He had to use the bathroom."

"She's a walking machine by now. I'm sure he'll get to see it." Burt said as Melody attempted to run to Kurt. She almost made it but tripped over her feet, tumbling over and somehow landing on her butt.

"Act happy, act happy." Carole said quickly. "If you don't, she'll cry!"

Kurt bounced a bit and then bent down. "Uh oh!"

"Uuuh-ooo." Melody gurgled, an adorable smile spreading across her face.

"She said uh oh!" Kurt yelped excitedly and then repeated very slowly, "Uh oh!"

"Aw, she's not walking any more." Blaine said, making his way into the room. He looked a little anxious, but not near as bad as he had looked the last time he'd been in that kitchen.

"We had a spill in aisle three." Kurt informed him, scooping Melody up. "Didn't we, Mellie?"

"Uuuh-ooo." Melody reached her hand out at Blaine.

"Can we say Blaine, Melody? _Blaine_." Kurt cooed.

"We're kind of stuck on Dada and Mama, kid. Sometimes milk."

"Milk!" Melody began kicking her legs out. "Milk, milk, milk!"

"Oh my God, she's gotten so much bigger. It's only been, like, two weeks." Kurt gasped.

"Oh, it happens fast." Carole said, taking one pot off of the stove. "Well, she's been saying Dada for ages. But that's normal. I'm just happy Mama came so soon after."

"Mamamamama." Melody gurgled.

"Kurt." Kurt said. " _Kurt_. Big bubba Kurt?"

"Mamamamamamama."

" _Kurt_."

"It's no use, Kurt. It doesn't work that way." Burt said, laughing. "Besides, I have a feeling your name is going to be the hardest for her."

"I'll settle for bubba." Kurt said, nudging Blaine and then going to sit at the table. He put Melody on his lap. " _Bubba_."

"Oh, let him get excited." Carole said as Burt opened his mouth to tell Kurt it was no use.

"Mamamama." Melody ignored Kurt, instead turning her attention to Carole.

"Melody, Melody, Melody." Carole cooed right back, kissing Melody's chubby cheek. "Mama's girl is getting big, isn't she? Saying three words and walking all by her self."

"Mamamama." Melody waved at Blaine again.

"He's not Mama." Kurt laughed.

"I don't think she quite equates Mama with Carole yet." Blaine said, tickling her foot. "She's talking early, isn't she?"

"Starting to." Burt nodded. "Kurt started pretty early too though, just like Melody. He'd only say 'Dada'Mama' and 'Who's that?' for months."e's n

"Who's that?" Carole questioned.

"Mine and Elizabeth's parents were constantly in and out. They would just walk in, so I'd always yell 'Who's that? Burt laughed. "Elizabeth called him my little parrot. Especially when he was older and I'd carry him on my shoulders."

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I think you make this stuff up, Dad."

"You think wrong, bud." Burt laughed as Melody continued to wave at Blaine, saying very clearly over and over again, "Mamamama. Mamamama."

Blaine waved back and tickled her stomach.

"Melody loves when you boys come and see her." Carole said happily. "Finn and Puck too. Oh, she _loves_ Puck."

"Kid's good with her too." Burt said gruffly.

"I forgot all about my mission to get Quinn and Puck together again." Kurt suddenly gasped. "Is Finn coming to dinner? I need to get the latest status of Puck's feelings towards her. Has he seemed depressed lately?"

"Are you implying that would be a good thing?" Burt asked, eyeing him.

"No, but it would imply that the feelings are still there." Kurt said.

Melody reached back and put her tiny hand over his mouth. Kurt's blue eyes widened and Blaine covered his own mouth to attempt to stifle his laugh.

"Kurt's got a mute button now too." Carole laughed. "That's right, Melody. You tell him to mind his own business."

" _Milk_." Melody cooed, looking straight into Kurt's eyes.

Kurt moved his head and began to chew on her fingers.

"DADADADADADA!" she whined.

"Dad can't save you!" Kurt giggled, standing her up and giving her an Eskimo kiss. She reached her hand back and hit him gently on his ear.

"Melody, we don't hit." Burt said in a firm voice.

Melody's hand slowed on it's second trip to his ear. She kept her eyes on her dad.

" _Melody_ …"

She lowered her hand and then reached for Blaine.

"I see how quickly you change your alliances." Kurt scoffed, passing her over. "It's okay. I have to go to the bathroom anyway."

Blaine smiled as Melody hugged him, grateful that Carole was in the room with he and Burt even if Kurt wasn't. "Hello there, pumpkin."

"How was school, hon?" Carole asked.

"Oh, I don't have school on Fridays." Blaine said, bouncing Melody as she chanted mama over and over. "I got started on a paper for my final. It's not due for a while, but soon they'll start piling up. I don't do well under essay pressure."

"It's smart to get started early, though." Carole said, smiling at him. "That way you're not under so much stress."

"And it keeps me occupied when Kurt isn't home." Blaine added. "But he doesn't have classes on Fridays either."

"So I hear UK did real good in the SEC." Burt said. "That Walker kid is amazing."

"He's in one of my classes." Blaine said quietly, trying to not feel nervous. They had talked. Things were going to be better, back to normal hopefully. There was nothing to be tense about. "He's almost seven feet tall."

"Seven?" Carole asked.

"Yeah. I had to work with him in a group for a project last week. It was kind of funny to see us standing in front of the class giving our presentation. It was us and two girls." Blaine laughed.

"Is he nice?" Carole asked.

"No." Blaine snorted. "None of them ever are. The ones at UK aren't at least. I don't know about other colleges."

"He's a damn good basketball player though." Burt said.

"Yeah, I'd like him more if he didn't dribble the ball in the hallways on the way to his classes." Blaine mumbled, making Burt chuckle a bit.

"I bet if you'd gone to do soccer, you'd have been just as sweet as you are now." Carole said, coming over and ruffling his hair.

"No. We've already discussed this." Kurt said, coming into the room and sitting next to Blaine again. "He'd have been a guy magnet."

"According to Kurt." Blaine added.

"Oh, come on. Look at your body now. If you were doing sports regularly, going to the gym..." Kurt just trailed off, an almost dazed look on his face.

"I think he's hinting he wants me to work out." Blaine laughed.

"I said no such thing." Kurt said, snapping back to reality. "I'm just saying, guys would have been all over you."

"Guys aren't all over Finn." Carole said thoughtfully.

"Rachel makes him wear a ring." Kurt said, very seriously.

"Oh my God." Blaine quickly turned his laugh into a cough.

"Blaine, don't be rude." Kurt sighed.

"A ring?" Burt echoed. "Please say you meant he makes _her_ wear one."

"No." Kurt shook his head. "She makes him wear a promise rin-Blaine, stop it!"

"I'm s-so-sorry." Blaine giggled immaturely.

"Are you saying you wouldn't wear a promise ring if I got you one?"

"First, you'd never get _me_ one." Blaine pointed out. "So I don't even need a follow up to that."

"I think a promise ring is a romantic gesture." Carole said.

"Yeah." Blaine shrugged. "I mean, I can see Kurt wearing one. I can see _Rachel_ wearing one. I just can't see _Finn_ wearing one."

"I doubt he wears it." Carole said. "But I think he should if she got it for him. Don't you, Burt?"

"Isn't there a game on tonight, Blaine? Shouldn't we go see about that?" Burt answered, standing.

"Don't you dare. The last thing just has to simmer a little longer and then we'll be able to eat." Carole threatened. "Besides, Melody hates when you have sports on the TV and Blaine's got her right now. You know how she is when people hand her off without her permission. She'll probably cry for the rest of the night."

"I would never hand my little pumpkin off." Blaine said, kissing Melody's cheek as she looked at Kurt. "Bubba? Is that bubba?"

"Yes!" Kurt said eagerly. "Bubba! I'm Bubba!"

"Mamamama!" she gurgled, turning and touching Blaine's nose.

"Hello, pretty." Blaine cooed, smiling.

"See? Isn't this nice? If Finn were here, we'd have to whole family." Carole said, looking happy. "He said he may come by a little late, if he could."

"I hope he can." Kurt said.

"Let it go, Kurt." Blaine sighed. "Quinn already told you a long time ago that she wanted you to butt out."

"That's what she _said_ but not what she wants. Imagine if it were you and I, Blaine." Kurt said haughtily. "Besides, it's my second calling. I can't help that I'm a romantic."

"No, I suppose you can't." Blaine laughed. "And I also suppose that I'm going to have to live with you matching people up for the rest of my life."

"If you want my cooking, yep." Kurt said cheerfully. "But everyone knows that way to your heart is your stomach. As long as I have at least one arm to cook with, you'll stick around."

"This is probably true." Blaine teased.

"Melody, want Mama to get you some sweet potatoes?" Carole asked, smiling.

Melody's eyes lit up.

"I thought you might. But we're going to let Daddy feed you because Blaine has a nice shirt on today and you're a very messy little piggy."

"I picked that shirt out." Kurt said, holding a finger up. "Just so you all know. I put a lot of thought into it, as well. Doesn't the color make his eyes pop?"

"It sure does." Carole said as Burt grunted and Blaine rolled his 'popping' eyes. "You should wear that color more often, Blaine."

"You're just buttering Kurt up now because you want him to take you shopping." Burt said as Melody was passed to him.

"Shh, Burt!" Carole hissed.

"I would _love_ to, Carole. Just as soon as this next week is done, I should have more time. I have some stuff to get caught up on, but most of the time now is geared towards our final projects."

"Oh, really?" Carole asked happily. "Thank you, hon. It seems like nothing looks as good as it used to since I had Melody."

"Don't even worry about it." Kurt said, waving his hand. "I'm excited. Really excited."

"Kurt's final project idea is really cool." Blaine said cheerfully, almost feeling as he used to before his and Burt's off and on fights had began.

"Thanks, Blaine." Kurt smiled. "I run all of my ideas by him."

"How is the friend who you stayed with until Blaine picked you up? He another fashion design kid?"

"Yeah. Alec." Kurt nodded. "He's good. He's not even started planning his final project... but he's one of those people who just starts putting stuff together last minute and everything falls into place. I wish I were like that."

"I think how you work is fine." Blaine said, smiling. "And your stuff always looks really, really, really good, Kurt."

"Thanks, Blaine." Kurt smiled happily. "I'm glad you think so."

…

Two hours later, Carole sat on the couch next to Blaine and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, hon."

"Hi." Blaine said, offering her a small smile.

"Burt's getting Melody put into bed. You holding up okay?"

"Yeah… It was kind of odd at first, but I'm fine now." Blaine said.

"Good. I was a little worried about you after you left on Wednesday… especially when you didn't come back. I hated to think you were sitting at home upset."

"No, I'm fine." Blaine gave her a smile. "Kurt and I talked about it.

"Oh, good." Carole let out a relieved sigh.

"I didn't want to worry or upset you, though. I'm sorry." Blaine said, feeling guilty.

"It does upset me." Carole ruffled his hair and then gave him a small squeeze. "You're such a sweet thing. You never deserved any of that. It breaks my heart to think about it… and those camps…"

Blaine looked up, relieved to see Kurt walk in.

"Hello." Kurt waved.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Carole asked, giving Blaine another squeeze.

"No. I'm sure it'll turn up at the apartment." Kurt shrugged and sat on Blaine's other side. "What are we talking about?"

"We're talking about his parents." Carole answered.

"Blaine doesn't like to talk about it." Kurt said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Don't worry. He won't be around them _ever_ again. Not if I have a say. And certainly not alone."

Blaine leaned against Kurt and smiled gratefully.

"I think this dinner went well. Dad and Blaine even talked about football. It almost felt like normal." Kurt said cheerfully to Carole.

"It did." Carole nodded. "I'm so glad. I've missed having you boys around every week. Melody just lights up whenever any of you three are in a room."

"It's because she's got all three of them wrapped around her finger." Burt said, coming into the room.

"It's true." Blaine sighed. "Kurt's already staking out Pottery Barn for $40 felt stack-able blocks."

"That is _way_ too much." Carole said¸ eyes widening. "She's just a baby, hon. She doesn't need all that."

"She is my little sister and she deserves the best." Kurt said—the same thing he said to Blaine a lot any time he found anything that cost 'way too much for a baby."Plus, I want to be the favorite brother. I probably don't see her as much as Finn. I need to compensate somehow."

Blaine shook his head and yawned, letting his head fall against Kurt's shoulder. "It's too bad Finn didn't show up. I haven't seen him in a while."

"He's exactly the same." Carole reassured him.

"I think we better get home before he falls asleep. He's impossible to wake up." Kurt said¸ nudging Blaine gently until he sat up. Kurt got up, hugging Carole. "Maybe next Friday we'll come early and then go clothes shopping?"

"Whenever you want to, sweetie. I'm off work Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays completely." Carole smiled, hugging him back. "You stay healthy, hon. We don't want anymore calls about you being sick, alright?"

"I'll do my best." Kurt promised her, moving to hug his dad.

"Take good care of yourself, kiddo." Burt said, pulling Kurt into a hug and patting the back of his head.

"I will, I will." Kurt answered, hugging his dad back tightly. "I'm doing a much better job of it."

"Well it's only been one week." Carole said gently. "You have to _keep_ at it."

"I know. Blaine and I discuss this on a daily basis." Kurt said, moving towards his boyfriend. "Speaking of Blaine, I better get him home. He's probably about to crash from all the caffeine he had this morning."

"'M not crashing." Blaine yawned.

"I'm going to get you home anyway." Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed Blaine's hands. "Tell the nice people byebye, Blaine."

"I hate you." Blaine said teasingly before waving goodbye to Carole and Burt.

"We'll see you next Friday?" Carole asked hopefully.

Blaine nodded and smiled. "Next Friday."


	33. Chapter 33

"Just one more day. You can do it."

"I can't." Blaine mumbled into the couch pillow lying face down. "Just go on without me."

"But you only have two finals left." Kurt bent down and shook his boyfriend's shoulder. "Come on. Get up."

"Can't."

"Aren't they the easiest of them all too?" Kurt asked.

"Shut up. I'm trying to suffocate myself over here. It doesn't work if I keep having to open my mouth to answer you." Blaine huffed.

Kurt rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to shake his head. "Sometimes I wonder which of us is more dramatic, Blaine."

Blaine began making hacking noises into the pillow, which clearly meant he was dying.

"I'm leaving you here now, okay? Please don't get spit on the pillows."

"You're just going to leave me alone to die?" Blaine looked up, making his eyes big and round.

"Didn't you just tell me to?" Kurt laughed.

"That doesn't mean you have to go along with it." Blaine pouted.

"What do you want for dinner?" Kurt asked, still laughing.

"I don't know. I don't plan to make it to dinner." Blaine responded, letting his head fall back onto the couch. "Because I plan to die."

"Melody will be disappointed tomorrow." Kurt said in a sing song voice.

"Huh?" Blaine looked up once again, this time looking confused.

"Remember? I've told you this, like, four times. She's staying the night with us so Carole and Dad can go to that whatever it was. That meeting in Indiana."

"Oh. For the garage." Blaine finally pushed himself into a sitting position. "I forgot that was tomorrow. Are you going to be home? I get home later on Thursdays."

"Yeah. All I have to do is go in and turn my portfolios in." Kurt nodded, reaching over and playing with Blaine's hair. "I'll be back around noon."

"Cool." Blaine yawned a bit and stretched his arms out. "You're going out with Quinn and Mercedes on Sunday night, right?"

"Yes… Why? Do you want to come with us?"

"Wes gets back in town on Sunday... I think Sunday." Blaine grinned. "We're going out."

"Oh, God." Kurt laughed. "Alright. Fine. I'll find something to do Sunday while you're out wreaking havoc on the city."

"I mean, you can come if you want." Blaine offered.

"Ohhhh no. No, sir." Kurt shook his head. "Let me get used to all three of you in the apartment before I 'go out' with you three."

"You make it sound like you have to mentally prepare yourself to be around all three of us." Blaine laughed. He frowned when Kurt didn't respond. "Hey! We're not that bad!"

"No, no, you're not bad." Kurt said quickly. "But… I don't know how to put this… you three are a little… "

"A little…?"

"Loud."

"I can handle that."

"And obnoxious."

Blaine gasped. "Me?"

"The obnoxious bit is _mostly_ Wes; I'll give you that much. You're just very excitable. Don't get me wrong. It's adorable. But I think it's fair to say that it does require mental preparation to 'go out' with you three."

"Don't think you can keep up?" Blaine smirked.

"Excuse me?" Kurt scoffed.

"Oh, nothing." Blaine said, still smirking. "I just don't think you'd be able to handle _really_ going out with us three. You know, if we went to drink or a party."

"I could handle myself just fine, thank you very much." Kurt said, looking highly offended.

"Kurt, me after Rachel's party was _nothing_ compared to some of the other stuff I've done. David has an entire section of a journal dedicated to stories." Blaine said, looking very serious. "It's thirty two pages long."

"Is it really?" Kurt asked, his eyes widening.

"He says it is." Blaine shrugged and stood up. "He's been known to fabricate things though, so I wouldn't trust _all_ of them as being completely true."

"Going to study?" Kurt asked, standing up straight.

"Mhmm. Do you want to work on your portfolio in bed with me when I study?"

"I would love too." Kurt smiled adorably and linked arms with him. "But if you think you're getting the big pillow, you're sadly mistaken."

* * *

"This is going to be so much fun! Let's see! We got the new toys you bought for her. We went and got food, baby wipes and diapers in case they don't bring enough…" Blaine said the next evening, not even five minutes after getting home and declaring that he was done with school "forever—well, forever until August!"

"Blaine, calm down!" Kurt laughed. "Take a minute to breathe. You just got done with finals. Don't you want to rest?"

"Rest is for people who don't have adorable infants coming to spend the night!" Blaine plopped on the couch excitedly. "We're going to watch Disney movies and we'll probably play that game where she pretends to ignore me and then we'll play chase the puppy."

"Don't forget how you two make faces and noises at each other and try to imitate one another." Kurt snorted, sitting on the couch with him.

"We're totally watching the Little Mermaid first, so don't even _think_ about putting Lady and the Tramp on." Blaine said, pointing at the coffee table where The Little Mermaid was already sitting. " _First_." He pointed across the room to Lady and the Trap. " _Second_."

"Oh my God." Kurt laughed again. "You're so excited for her to stay over. You don't know what it's going to be like to have her without Dad around, you know? She's such a Daddy's girl."

"But she _loves_ Blaine and big brother Kurt." Blaine reassured him. "And of course I'm excited. She's my little buddy."

"I just hope you don't get _too_ excited. She might not be very… uh… happy without Carole and Dad around. This is her first time away from home without them. Carole has always been there to put her to bed." Kurt said.

"Oh, she'll be fine." Blaine said, shaking his head. "You worry way too much."

"I just don't want you to get your hopes up." Kurt said, standing when there was a quiet knock on the door.

"She's here!" Blaine jumped up. "I'm so excited. Maybe we can do this every weekend."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Kurt kissed his cheek and then opened the door, a big smile on his face. "Oh, look at her!"

Melody toddled into the apartment, wearing an adorable t-shirt and jeans outfit that Kurt had never seen before. She marched right past him as if she owned the place, a stuffed bear that Blaine had given her tucked under her arm.

"She's in a bit of a mood today." Carole warned as Blaine bent down to scoop her up and she toddled in the other direction, shooting him a look. "I think she knows we're l-e-a-v-i-n-g."

"Why are you spelling it out?" Blaine tilted his head. "She doesn't know what lea— _ooh_."

"Try to distract her so Carole can sneak out." Kurt mouthed, pointing at Melody who was hitting her tiny fists on the coffee table, bear at her feet.

"Wanna see the puppy, pumpkin?" Blaine cooed, chasing her to the other side of the room and bending down. "Puppy?"

Melody nodded, reaching her little arms up and giving him a bright smile.

"You're getting so heavy." Blaine said, gently lifting her and kissing her chubby cheek. "Let's go find the puppy! We like puppies, don't we?"

Melody giggled and touched Blaine's hair, which was gelled. She pulled her hand back quickly and scowled at him, extremely confused.

"I feel the same way, Mellie." Kurt giggled.

Melody touched his hair again and let out a frustrated squeak when she was not able to pull at his curls.

"I'm sorry." Blaine laughed, kissing her cheek once again. "We can pull Kreacher's hair, though."

"Blaine!" Carole laughed. "Don't teach her bad things."

"I would never." Blaine cooed, wiggling Melody in the air. "Never, ever, ever!"

Melody giggled and reached to touch his face, grabbing his nose and holding on.

"They'll do this until you guys get back tomorrow night." Kurt laughed.

"Oh, I know. I'm sure you two are going to have a ball with her." Carole reached up and squeezed his shoulder as Blaine left the room with Melody. "I'm going to sneak out when she's distracted."

"Bye, Carole."

"Call us if you need anything at all, hon." Carole kissed his cheek.

"We'll be fine." Kurt reassured her. "Tell Dad I said hi."

Carole slipped out the door, carefully closing it behind her. Kurt moved Melody's two bags onto the couch and headed into the bedroom. Blaine was crouched down on the floor holding one of Melody's hands as she, standing, leaned over and petted Kreacher with her free hand. Kurt smiled to himself for longer than he'd like to admit before going up behind him and tickling Blaine's side. "Hello."

"Hi, there." Blaine looked back at him and smiled. "Kreacher's a big hit right now."

Kreacher, who was lying on his side and panting happily, yipped.

"Mellie likes the puppy, doesn't she?" Kurt asked, sitting down by her and petting Kreacher as well. "Blaine likes the puppy too even if he won't admit it."

Melody turned herself so she was facing them and, making eye contact with both of them, began to babble.

"Is that so?" Kurt gasped, scooping her up. He giggled when Melody nodded solemnly.

"See? I told you this was going to be fun!" Blaine said excitedly, standing up straight himself.

"Let's get Mellie some sweet potatoes." Kurt cooed as Melody tangled her fingers in his hair. "Mine isn't as fun, but maybe I can talk Blaine into washing the gel out later."

Melody giggled and pet his hair in the same way that she had Kreacher's before very clearly saying "puppy."

"I'm not a puppy, silly girl!" Kurt said as Blaine giggled. "I'm Kurt."

"Puppy." She scowled, petting his hair again.

"I love the fact that she can talk now." Blaine laughed, thoroughly enjoying the fact that Kurt couldn't _possibly_ argue with a baby.

"Kurt." Kurt repeated. " _Kurt_ … And, Blaine, I don't know if this actually qualifies as _talking_."

"Puppy!" Melody kicked out her legs, an adorable grin on her face.

"Let's try _bubby_." Blaine said slowly. "Or _bubba_."

"Puppy, puppy, puppy!" Melody screeched in laughter, throwing her arms around Kurt's neck and still kicking her legs excitedly.

"Oh my God!" Kurt exclaimed, laughing and hugging her back. "She's extra affectionate tonight. Wanna go see Blaine, Melody?"

Melody turned her head in Blaine's direction, eyes bright.

Kurt passed her over and Blaine bounced her up and down, making both noises and faces at her.

"I'm going to get her food for her dinner."

"Mmkay." Blaine said cheerfully, sitting on the couch with her. "Let's sing songs, pumpkin. _The_ _itsy_ _bitsy_ _spider_ _—_ can you make a spider?"

Kurt laughed and went into the kitchen to get some of Melody's dinner as Blaine attempted to show her how to make a spider with her hands. He hadn't been gone a full minute when Blaine cried out.

Kurt tossed the jar he had been opening to the counter and ran into the living room. What was going on? Had Melody fallen? Or had someone broken in? Or, most likely of all options, had Kreacher destroyed something else of Blaine's?

But it was none of those things. Kurt ran in to find Blaine holding Melody out at arms length, his face screwing up as he choked out, " _Gross_!"

His little sister looked around the room contently, kicking her legs out.

"What is wrong with you, Blaine?" Kurt asked, eyebrow arching. Clearly his boyfriend was losing his mind.

"Kurt, she's exploded! It's _all_ _over_ _her_ _back_!"

"Wait wha—." And then _it_ hit him. _It_ was probably the worst thing he'd ever smelled in his entire life. "Oh my God, that smells _disgusting_! Is that—No way."

"Should we… call an ambulance? This isn't normal." Blaine's expression was very serious. "I think she's legitimately exploding."

"We can't call an _ambulance_. She just went potty a little… forcefully. You're just going to have to change her." Kurt said calmly.

" _I_ _'_ _m_ going to have to? You change her, she's your sister!" Blaine said, thrusting her in his direction.

"Yeah but you were the one that made her do it!" Kurt yelped. "Clearly you were bouncing her too much and made her sick or something. You caused it, you fix it!"

"I don't like messes!"

"I've got good clothes on!"

"And mine aren't as good?"

"You're the manlier and therefore braver one, Blaine. You should do it."

"That was a horrible thing to say." Blaine said, thrusting her towards him away. "Just for that, you should do it."

"Puppy!" Melody squealed and clapped her hands as Kreacher pranced in.

" _Kurt_ …"

" _Blaine..._ _"_

"No. I'm not doing it." Blaine said stubbornly, nose scrunched up. "I refuse."

"I'm not doing it either."

Melody looked between both boys, giggling.

"Well she can't stay like that all night. She'll get diaper rash and I'd _assume_ that's uncomfortable."

"But—is it even normal for her to poop that much? It's... oh God, Blaine, it's on your pants."

"Fuuu- _dge_ Popsicle." Blaine whined. "Oh my God."

"Hey! It's already on you. You do it."

" _Kurt_!"

"Fine, fine!" Kurt grabbed her. "I get dibs on naming our first child for this, though!"

"I'll give you _anything_ if you make that smell go away and make her cute again." Blaine promised.

Melody scowled at him for this.

"Oh, Blaine is so mean." Kurt cooed. "Melody is still cute, isn't she?"

Melody's scowl almost immediately disappeared and she waved to Kreacher, who was hiding under the couch.

"Even the dog knows. Even the dog." Blaine said solemnly. "Well, have fun cleaning that up."

" _Don_ _'_ _t_ _you_ _dare_. You're helping." Kurt said, his voice too sweet to actually be sweet.

"Oh my God, I can't handle this." Blaine moaned, looking as though he felt sick. "It's making me sick to my stomach."

"It's just sweet potatoes and peas, Blaine." Kurt snorted.

"Yeah. _In_ _the_ _form_ _of_ _baby_ _poop_." Blaine said, running off to get a towel. He brought not one but _four_ large ones.

Kurt began to giggle as he sat them down.

"What?" Blaine whined.

"I'm laughing because you brought four of our biggest towels when only one is probably necessary." Kurt responded smoothly. "Maybe two."

"How was I supposed to know? She pooped enough for an entire army!" Blaine scoffed. "Sorry I'm not knowledgeable in baby poop things. I hope you'll forgive me."

"Just this once, but don't let it happen again. Do you want to hold her or take the clothes off?" Kurt giggled as Melody slobbered on her own fingers.

"Hold her I guess." Blaine scrunched his nose up and held her out as far as he could. "Lesser of two evils."

"Blaine, it's just poop. It's not going to cause you to mutate or something."

"Can you guarantee that?" Blaine mumbled as Kurt unbuttoned the back of Melody's t-shirt.

Kurt just shook his head and laughed, but gagged when he peeled—literally— the shirt off. "Melody, this is disgusting."

Melody giggled and waved her hand at Blaine.

"For someone so cute, you sure do smell." Blaine coughed. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"You are not going to be sick. I thought you lived with Wes when his sister was little." Kurt said calmly, shaking his head still.

"She never had poop _explosions_!" Blaine exclaimed.

"Okay. I'm doing the pants now. It's probably going to be really _gross_." Kurt said, very slowly tugging her infant jeans off of her. "Oh my God, oh my God, gross. It's _everywhere._ "

" _Oh_ _my_ _God_." Blaine moaned. "Melody, whatever they fed you, you are _not_ eating tonight."

Melody just giggled and kicked her legs.

"No, no, no!" Kurt yelped. "Stay still. Blaine, it is _all_ over her."

"It was coming out the top of her pants. I thought you'd picked up on that." Blaine grunted.

"No. I'm pretty sure it's on her neck too. No wonder it was on your pants. Basically, I'm trying to say that she needs a bath."

"Can we just put her in the sink and use the spray thingie?"

" _That_ _'_ _s_ _disgusting_!" Kurt exclaimed. "In the _kitchen_? I cook dinner using that sink."

Blaine just shrugged, nose scrunched up.

"You may be a bigger baby than Melody." Kurt sighed, wrapping a towel around Melody's lower half and then taking her from his boyfriend. He snorted when she gave him a baffled look. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I have no idea what I'm doing right now. Go turn on the bathtub faucet, Blaine. Make sure it's not too hot."

"That I can do." Blaine let out a relieved sigh and turned on the water, putting a stopper in the bottom of the bathtub. "It's clean, right?"

"You clean every inch of this house once a week. I'm sure it's fine." Kurt said smoothly, settling Melody into the water. "Go get her soap out of her bag. It's on the couch. And get a washcloth." He surveyed her back side. "Maybe bring them all."

"Got it." Blaine took off.

"Blaine doesn't like your poopy butt." Kurt giggled and tapped her nose. "I don't think Kurt's having babies any time soon, do you?"

Melody shook her head and giggled.

"I don't either." Kurt shook his own head and kissed her cheek.

"What do we do with her clothes?" Blaine asked, coming in with several wash cloths and her soap.

"Uhm… I've got clothes in the washer, so just… put them in a grocery bag until I can get them changed out." Kurt said distractedly. "But don't leave. After I get most of this poop off I'll have to get more water. I'm not really sure what I'm doing here. I probably should have got it all off before the water now that I think about it but it's too late now…"

Blaine sat on the edge of the tub, watching Kurt clean her off with his nose scrunched up. Melody giggled happily, looking at Blaine and babbling away.

"Those wash cloths are going to be toxic." Blaine said to no one in particular.

Kurt laughed loudly and pulled Melody out of the water. "No more poopy butt! Yay!"

Melody clapped her hands, smiling excitedly.

"Can you manage to hold her while I run new water and put these with her clothes?"

"I suppose." Blaine took Melody, but still had her out at arms length. Kurt made new bath water and disappeared with three dirty wash cloths. "That was gross, Melody. How was there even that much poop inside you?"

Melody stared at him blankly and tilted her head.

"Yeah. I don't know either." Blaine said very seriously. "It's a good thing Kurt's here or I would have sat you in a play pin and called Carole to come get you."

Kurt, who was walking in, burst into loud laughter again. "Dad would have loved that, too. _Blaine_ _will_ _drop_ _out_ _of_ _college_ _to_ _take_ _care_ _of_ _my_ _son_ _but_ _won_ _'_ _t_ _even_ _change_ _my_ _daughter_ _'_ _s_ _diaper_."

Melody let out a high pitched laugh, clapping her hands.

"I'm so funny." Kurt cooed, tickling her belly. "Aren't I?"

"Funny looking." Blaine teased, carefully sitting Melody in the tub.

"Says the one with the poodle hair and height deficiency." Kurt cooed to Melody, making her giggle more.

"You are borderline abusive, Kurt." Blaine laughed and moved out of the way so Kurt could sit on the edge of the tub.

Kurt sat down and grabbed a cup he had brought with him, getting Melody wet. She clapped and hit the water with her hands, splashing him. " _Melody_ …"

She paused momentarily and immediately picked up again, with more force.

"Fine, fine, fine." Kurt rolled his eyes and began cleaning her off with soap.

"Have you done this before?" Blaine asked curiously, head tilted and watching him.

"Not exactly, but I doubt there's a wrong way to do it." Kurt shrugged, soaping up Melody's hair and making it stick up. She puffed her cheeks out and began bobbing her head up and down, clearly dancing.

"What in the world is this child doing?" Blaine laughed, actually clapping his hands.

"Say _I_ _'_ _m_ _dancing,_ _Blaine._ _I_ _'_ _m_ _an_ _Egyptian_ _…_ Or a robot, or worm. I'm not quite sure what move she's doing actually." Kurt giggled.

Melody turned herself around, splashing water at the shower wall that had been behind her.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kurt laughed, turning her back around. "If you're going to splash anything, splash Blaine. If he has to take a shower he'll wash his hair!"

Blaine shook his head and moved away from the tub, seating himself on the closed toilet seat. "I'll watch from afar."

"Party pooper." Kurt cooed, rinsing the water off of Melody. "Blaine's a party pooper, Melody. And you're a poopy pooper."

"I'm going to laugh so hard when she goes home saying poop." Blaine giggled. "You know how much trouble Finn got in for teaching her p-i-s-s."

Kurt scooped Melody up and dried her off, pressing a noisy kiss to her cheek. "All clean!"

Melody wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his shoulder.

"Oh, you sweet thing." Kurt hugged her. "You're almost as sweet as my Blaine, aren't you?"

Melody just tangled her tiny hand in his hair and nuzzled him again.

"She's so cute." Blaine said, a silly smile on his face.

"When she's not covered in massive amounts of poop, yes." Kurt said, smiling at Blaine.

"You did a pretty awesome job taking care of that explosion." Blaine grinned.

"And I see you changed clothes when you got the wash cloths." Kurt noted, now smirking. "Good job."

"Hey, I'm just in it for the cute stuff. Once they start spitting up and exploding, I hand them off." Blaine said, holding his hands open defensively.

"When you _screamed_ , I thought someone was attacking you." Kurt said, eyebrow raising.

"I feared for the life of our couch, Kurt." Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Ow!" Both Kurt and Blaine yelped and pulled away from each other. Melody, who had smacked both of them, just lowered her balled fist and giggled.

* * *

For however good the first part of the night had been, the last part seemed to be just as terrible. Terrible was the only word Kurt could think to describe taking turns trying to get an irritable infant to sleep… _for_ _four_ _hours_.

Honestly, Kurt thought he might just collapse soon in a dead sleep—baby wails and all. Blaine, curled on the bed and making some pretty interesting noises himself, was closer to that point than Kurt though.

"It's okay, Melody. Shh, shh, shh." Kurt whimpered, pacing the length of their bedroom in the mostly-dark and bouncing her as she wailed. They both—no, they all _three_ needed sleep. Right then. What did it take to get a child to go to sleep? "Shh, shh, shh."

"Oh my God." Blaine moaned, covering his face with his arm. "How can she _still_ be awake? Do you think something is wrong? Should we call your Dad?"

Melody let out a loud wail, big tears sliding down her chubby cheeks.

"Because it's been _four_ _hours_ , Kurt." Blaine continued as he sat up, eyes red from lack of sleep. While it was only two in the morning, he had spent days staying up late while studying for finals. He was exhausted. Beyond exhausted.

"I'm trying, Blaine. I'm sorry." Kurt whimpered again. "I already told you that you could go sleep in the living room."

"I'm not leaving you alone. Let me try again." Blaine said, standing and taking her. "Shh, shh, baby. Shh."

"She can't be sick or anything." Kurt said, sitting on the bed. "She just won't sleep."

Blaine cradled her in his arms, attempting to rock her, but she flailed angrily. "Oh my God, Kurt. She's never acted like this before."

"She wants Dad and Carole." Kurt moaned, standing back up.

Blaine moved so he was holding Melody against him again and rubbed her back. "Shh, shh, pumpkin. It's okay."

Kurt rubbed her back with one hand, rubbing at his eyes with the other and almost feeling too tired to function properly. "I'm so tired."

"Me too." Blaine said, yawning.

" _Dadadadada_!" Melody sobbed.

"Daddy's asleep, pumpkin. Like you should be." Blaine snuggled her close. "Shh, shh."

"It's okay, sweetie." Kurt added, still rubbing her tiny back. "Mommy and Daddy will be back tomorrow."

"I can't believe she hasn't tired herself out yet." Blaine said over her wails. "It's been four hours."

"I know that, Blaine." Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. She just keeps saying Dada over and over and _over_."

"I don't know either." Blaine began pacing the room, making shushing noises and rocking her. "Nothing is working!"

"Sing something?" Kurt asked.

"Sing? I don't think it's the time to sing." Blaine mumbled.

"Not to me, to _her_." Kurt gestured at Melody, whose wails had finally softened a little bit.

"Sing what?"

"I don't know. Anything." Kurt shrugged.

"Er… _Rock_ _a_ _bye_ _baby,_ _on_ _the_ _tree_ _top?_ " Blaine sang hesitantly, feeling extremely silly.

Melody's cries became louder again.

"You are not having that, are you?" Blaine let out a tired laugh that came out sounding grumpier than it was meant to. "Uhm… okay, okay… I know what to sing.

" _Goodnight_ _my_ _angel,_  
 _now_ _it's_ _time_ _to_ _dream  
And __dream_ _how_ _wonderful_ _your_ _life_ _will_ _be,_ _"_

Melody's sobs softened and she watched him sleepily, eyes wide.

_"_ _Someday_ _your_ _child_ _may_ _cry,_ _  
and_ _if_ _you_ _sing_ _this_ _lullaby  
Then _ _in_ _your_ _heart  
_ _there_ _will_ _always_ _be_ _a_ _part_ _of_ _me,_ _"_

Blaine continued, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Kurt.

Melody wrapped her little fist around Blaine's index finger, finally quiet but not yet asleep.

" _Someday we'll all be gone  
But lullabies go on and on,"_

Kurt kept his eyes on Blaine as he sang softly, wondering how on Earth he had found someone as perfect as Blaine Anderson. He was in awe of his wonderful boyfriend who, even running on so little sleep, was being so absolutely sweet to his baby sister. In awe of how beautiful his voice was as he sang, slowly lulling Melody to sleep. In awe of just how _beautiful_ Blaine and everything he did was, really. How had he gotten so lucky?

" _They never die  
That's how,"_

Melody's eyes began to droop but she kept a firm grasp on Blaine's finger, her other hand gripping his t-shirt. She was now completely silent apart from the occasional sniffle.

" _you and I  
will be."_

Blaine finished and looked down at Melody, whose eyes were on him but beginning to close. Kurt reached over, stroking her cheek with his finger and resting his head on Blaine's shoulder.

Within two minutes, Melody's breathing evened out and she loosened her grip on Blaine's finger and his shirt.

"Thank God." Kurt whispered, very gently taking her. "Think we can risk putting her in the play pin?"

"I don't think babies are supposed to sleep in beds." Blaine said, shrugging one shoulder and running his hand through his curls sleepily. "But I don't know for sure."

"Alright." Kurt leaned over and gently placed Melody in her play pen. He screwed his own face up when she whined, but sighed in relief when she curled slightly and settled.

"C'mere. Lay down." Blaine collapsed into a laying position and let out a huge yawn.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Kurt said, throwing himself onto the bed and half landing on Blaine.

"Urgh." Blaine grunted as he draped an arm around Kurt. "You're definitely eating more."

"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed, looking up and scowling.

Blaine giggled and tugged him back down, fingers running up and down his back. "Shh, baby's asleep."

"You're so mean." Kurt grumbled into his chest, relaxing against him.

"But you love me." Blaine grinned, pulling him even closer and tangling their legs together.

"I suppose one could say that."

* * *

"My baby girl!" Carole exclaimed, scooping Melody into her arms the second the door was open. Melody bounced up and down excitedly, curling into her mother's arms and sucking happily on her pacifier.

A few seconds later Burt came in, carefully closing the door behind him. "Looking a little tired, boys."

Blaine, who was sitting on the couch, hunched over until his face was buried in the seat and groaned.

Burt laughed loudly. "That bad?"

"It went fine." Kurt said cheerfully.

"The circles under your eyes are worse than his." Burt chuckled, pointing at Blaine who had looked up.

" _Fine_? _Fine?_ " Blaine echoed, hazel eyes wide. "Yes it was _fine_ until the poop explosion. We are talking _everywhere_."

Carole laughed, kissing Melody's cheek.

"All you did was sit and moan." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"And then it was _fine_ until bed time and—."

"Oh no." Carole gasped. "I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Blaine asked sharply, causing Burt to laugh loudly again.

"Oh, honies, I'm sorry." Carole said, covering her mouth with her free hand.

"Forgot what?" Kurt asked.

"To tell you about the swing."

" _The_ _swing_!" Blaine exclaimed.

"That stupid swing!" Kurt scowled. "We forgot the stupid swing!"

"Only way I can get her to sleep." Carole said, smiling apologetically and passing Melody to Burt. "Burt can get her to sleep within a minute but when he's at work late, I have to depend on the swing."

Blaine shot the swing in the corner of the room a nasty look. "Stupid swing."

"Burt, I _told_ you that we needed to call and check up on them again!" Carole sighed.

"And I told you that they were fully capable." Burt said. "And clearly they are. Our daughter is in one piece."

"And look, she's already asleep." Carole pointed. Melody had nestled her head between his neck and shoulder and had fallen asleep with Burt's chin rested on her head.

"We weren't capable. It took us four hours to get her to sleep." Kurt frowned.

"And she only slept for two and a half." Blaine whimpered.

"Oh, boys!" Carole went and hugged both of them. "You could have called."

"Kurt didn't want to bother you." Blaine said shortly. "I tried to get him to. Several times. _Stupid_ _swing_!"

"You also tried to get me to call an ambulance when she pooped. Sorry if I didn't trust your judgment." Kurt scoffed.

"My poor boys." Carole laughed, ruffling Kurt's hair. "We told you to call if you needed anything, you know."

"And she keeps calling Kurt 'puppy' and petting his hair." Blaine added.

"I told you she kept doing that, Carole." Burt grunted, rubbing his sleeping daughter's back. "She didn't believe me."

"Maybe she wants a puppy?" Carole asked. "Every time the boys bring Kreacher over she loves him."

"She can have him." Blaine mumbled, curling up on the couch.

"No, she cannot." Kurt sighed. "And it really wasn't that bad, Dad."

"Blaine's face says it all." Carole giggled as Burt chuckled.

"At least she's cute." Blaine yawned.

"We'll get out of your hair so you two can get some shut eye." Burt said gruffly, shifting Melody's weight onto his other side. She balled her fist around his shirt, much like she had Blaine's the night before, and let out a content sigh.

"Thank you so much for watching her." Carole said, handing Burt two bags with Melody's belongings in it. "We _really_ appreciate it."

"Thanks, boys." Burt added.

"Just so we're clear, we're not coming to dinner tonight." Kurt informed him. "We'll be here asleep. Maybe on the floor, providing we can't make it to the bed."

"That's fine." Carole laughed, picking up the portable swing and folding it. "Go on and get some sleep. We'll lock up."

"Thanks." Kurt said, moving to go to the bedroom. "Coming Blaine?"

"Can't move." Blaine groaned as Kurt's parents left, locking the door. "Help me up."

"Help you up?" Kurt went back to couch and reached his hand down. "C'mon."

Blaine grabbed his hand but instead of allowing Kurt to pull him up, pulled Kurt down. "Here's good."

"Mmmh okay." Kurt said, arms going around his waist. "Night, Blaine."

"It's morning."

"Night, Blaine." Kurt repeated, nuzzling his shoulder.

"Night, Kurt."

* * *

"Do you have any idea when you'll be home?" Kurt asked, tugging on a pair of jeans.

"No clue whatsoever." Blaine shrugged. "David knows someone that's throwing a party, so we're going to stop by that."

"Oh." Kurt said, resisting the urge to frown. From the jokes he'd heard, Blaine and parties didn't mix. He'd also seen that first hand, although in moderation.

"Don't worry. I'm not drinking. I have to work open to close tomorrow." Blaine rolled his eyes. "I can't find my shoes. Your damn dog probably took them _again_."

"No he didn't." Kurt rolled his eyes this time.

"HA!" Blaine pulled his shoes out from under Kreacher's little bed. "HA! _I_ _told_ _you_!"

"He doesn't know any better, Blaine."

"Hmph." Blaine pulled his shoes on and gave Kurt a look. "You baby that dog. He's spoiled rotten. He thinks he can do anything."

"This talk again." Kurt sighed. "It's too late to change his ways now."

"Well then maybe we should just lock him in his cage for the rest of eternity." Blaine said, mostly joking. "Are you listening to me?"

"Nope." Kurt grabbed his wallet. "When you talk bad about the closest thing I have to a child, it goes in one ear and out the other."

"I guess I know where Kreacher gets it." Blaine went over, pressing his lips to Kurt's. "Have fun with Mercedes and Quinn. Are you staying in Lima?"

"No, I'm going to come home after. I don't think it'll take us that long."

"BLAINERS, WE'RE HEEERE! Oooh, he's got a new TV!"

"Wes, don't touch stuff."

" _Blllllllaine_!"

"In the bedroom!" Blaine called.

Wes ran into the room, waving. "BLAINE!"

"Wes!" Blaine exclaimed, waving back.

"Wes started the party early." David informed them, coming into the room and making a drinking motion. "Hey, Kurt."

"Hello." Kurt waved. "Blaine, don't have too much fun."

"I'm not drinking." Blaine said firmly.

"He's got work tomorrow." Kurt said, pointedly looking at Wes. "So he can't drink."

"Blaine, you are so whipped." Wes snickered. "David is too. Single life is amazing."

Blaine rolled his eyes and kissed Kurt. "Have fun."

"You have fun too." Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine kissed him again.

" _Kurt_ _and_ _Blaine,_ _sitting_ _in_ _a_ _tree,_ _k-i-s-s-i-n-g!_ _"_ Wes sang as David gagged.

Blaine pulled away, making a very un-dapper hand gesture at both of his friends.

"Blaine!" Kurt laughed, hugging him and kissing his cheek.

"You saw nothing." Blaine gave him one last kiss before stepping away.

"Don't get drunk!" Kurt called as they walked out.

"Don't put it into debt!" Blaine called back, prompting laughter from Wes and David.

"I'm serious, David! He's not drinking!" Kurt added. "He has to leave the house at six in the morning!"

"Got it, Kurt!" David called before the door shut.

"If he comes home drunk, I will kill him." Kurt said, grabbing his keys and leaving moments later. "All three of them."

* * *

"Why is your boyfriend so hard to wake up?" David grunted loudly as he shook Blaine. "No, Blaine, no. Don't climb on the—coffee table."

Kurt sat up quickly as there was a loud crash, rubbing his face. "What?"

"Finally!" David let out a relieved sigh. "Do you have any idea how hard you are to wake up?"

"Kurt! It's Kurt!" Blaine moved into a standing position and jumped into Kurt's lap, throwing his arms around his neck. "I love you so much, Kurt. Hey, guess what? Guess what, Kurt?"

"Blaine¸ let him wake up before you attack him." David grunted as he tried to pull Blaine off of Kurt's lap.

"But he's my love. I love him, David." Blaine said, nuzzling David's shoulder. "He's so sexy. And he's got a nice tongue. It's my absolute favorite."

"Oh my God." Kurt's eyes widened in horror.

"He does this thing and—oh God, you have to try it. Maybe we can—maybe we can share it. No, no. I don't think he'd like that. No, I wouldn't like that either… But you're—you're—you're _totally_ missing ou—hey, Kurt! Hey! Good morning, Kurt!"

"I thought he wasn't drinking." Kurt said shortly, eyes narrowed at David.

"Well he _wasn_ _'_ _t_. But, see, I went to use the bathroom and Wes gave Blaine some of his drink when I was gone… Once Blaine gets alcohol in him, he doesn't stop." David said in a hushed voice. "I tried."

"Wes is very persuasive, Kurt. He's _very_ _persuasive_." Blaine nodded very seriously. "Kinda like when you wanted to have sex the first time and I said shouldn't we wait, but you were ready and the blankets were comfy and you did that thing with—."

"And where is Wes?" Kurt said, completely ignoring his drunk and babbling boyfriend.

"When I left him in the car he was singing the Star Spangled Banner backwards." David said. "Or trying to."

" _Oh_ _say_ _can_ _you_ _seeeee_ —." Blaine sang.

"Oh my God. He's worse than drunk." Kurt sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I tried. I really did. But he was 'having too much fun.'"

"The police aren't going to show up, right?" Kurt asked warily.

"Hey, David. David? David, are you listening?" Blaine asked, tugging at David's arm. "David?"

"Blaine, sit down." David said firmly.

"A'ight!" Blaine said, plopping onto the floor. "Ow."

"No. But when Blaine has 'too much fun' he tends to spend hours vomiting. And there was a lot of Vodka involved. He's never handled Vodka well… as you can see."

"Kurt, Kurt, Kurt!" Blaine chanted, hopping up and then crawling into Kurt's lap. "Guess what, Kurt?"

"What, Blaine?" Kurt sighed, arms instinctively going around Blaine's waist.

"There were lots of girls at the party but I didn't kiss one! I didn't kiss two or three either. I didn't kiss _anybody_ 'cause I got in trouble last night and no one kisses as good as you because your tongue is stupendous."

"Good to know you've learned self restraint." Kurt remarked, shooting David a glare.

"Puppy!" Blaine squealed and moved to the floor as Kreacher pranced up excitedly. "I love the dumb stupid puppy! Dumb puppy!"

Kreacher yipped loudly, hopping onto Blaine's legs and licking his face and neck excitedly.

"Oh God. He's so drunk that he doesn't even know his name, does he?" Kurt groaned as Blaine hugged Kreacher, who was so excited to be getting love from Blaine that Kurt was sure his little heart would just give out.

"I've really got to get to Wes before he injures himself. I've got the child locks on the door." David said hurriedly. "I'm really sorry again, Kurt."

"You're leaving me with him like this?" Kurt yelped, his blue eyes wide.

"What, do you want me to bring Wes in here and have two drunken lunatics in the same room? You've never seen them drunk together. You don't want to know the things they are capable of together, Kurt. It's enough to probably make you question living alone with Blaine."

"But I've never even dealt with someone _this_ drunk before! What do I _do_?"

David, who was walking towards the door, rolled his eyes. "Make sure he doesn't lay on his back, get some food in him, pop in some little kid movie with lots of colors, and get him to sleep. I'd stay within reach of a bathroom too."

"You're seriously leaving?" Kurt asked. There was no way David was _really_ going to leave Kurt alone with Blaine. No way.

David gave him an apologetic look, nodding as he backed out of the apartment. "Sorry. I've got to get to Wes before he backs my car into your apartment building. I know I've got the keys, but he hacked into the government via Google. Don't underestimate him. Again, I'm really, really, really sorry, Kurt. You'll be fine… Oh, oh! Water, Kurt! Lots and lots of water!"

Kurt just scowled and looked down at Blaine, who was busy attempting to tug off his shoes while Kreacher ran around him in circles.

" _Help_!" Blaine whined, looking up with big eyes.

"Oh God, Blaine." Kurt moaned, bending down. He helped tug off his shoes and scowled again. "Why did you do this?"

"Can we have sex?" Blaine asked, attempting to tug his cardigan over his head without unbuttoning it. And oblivious to Kurt's frustration.

"No, Blaine, we're not having sex." Kurt said, pushing his cardigan back down and beginning to undo the buttons. "Let's get this off before you stretch it… or blow chunks all over it… and me."

"Alright." Blaine said cheerfully, thrusting his arms out when they buttons were all undone.

"You do know I have work in the morning. And you do too." Kurt said, becoming frustrated. "It's three and you can't remember your name."

"Wyatt Bl _aine_. No, Blaine Wyatt." Blaine slurred, attempting to stand and stumbling.

Kurt wrapped an arm around his small waist.

"We're gonna have sex. I want you, Kurt. I want you." Blaine turned, kissing down Kurt's neck and using his hand to pull the collar of his shirt down. "I want you."

"Yes, yes, I know, but you're drunk." Kurt sighed. "We're not having sex."

"But I want you."

"Yeah, it doesn't work that way." Kurt said, leading him into the bathroom. "You should know that by now."

"Can we take a shower and have sex?" Blaine asked, attempting to lift Kurt's shirt up.

" _Blaine,_ _no_." Kurt said.

"I'm horny though."

"Right now you're being insatiable." Kurt sighed.

"Why are we in the bathroom?" Blaine asked, standing on the toilet and attempting to look out the bathroom window. "Hey, there's a body out there."

"There is not a body out there, Blaine. All you can see is another brick wall." Kurt said, trying to not be impatient with his boyfriend.

"I bet it'd have sex with me 'cause I'm adorable." Blaine said¸ stumbling off of the toilet and landing on his knees. "Hey, I can—ooh, I don't feel so good, Kurt."

Kurt rushed over, quickly lifting the toilet seat and scooting Blaine up to it. "Get it out, babe."

"Don't wanna puke, don't wanna puke, don't wanna puke." Blaine whined.

"Should have thought of that when you drank all that Vodka." Kurt sing-songed.

"Wes is persuasive." Blaine said again before leaning over and vomiting into—or rather, mostly on— the toilet.

"Gross." Kurt whined, face screwing up. "Try to aim for inside it next time, sweetie."

Blaine coughed loudly before puking again, this time actually getting most of it _in_ the toilet.

Kurt rubbed his back and shoulders, resigning to sit on the cold floor with him. "Just get it out, honey, and we'll get you into bed."

"I'm done." Blaine said nearly five minutes later, sitting up and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Gross." Kurt stood and wet a hand towel, wiping off Blaine's mouth and then his hands. "I'm going to get you into bed and I'll bring you some food. Hopefully it'll make you sober up faster."

"And then we can have sex?" Blaine asked eagerly.

"No, Blaine."

Blaine let out a frustrated groan, shakily standing. " _I_ _never_ _get_ _sex_."

"I know. Yesterday morning was so long ago." Kurt said, nudging him into the room.

"I'd get more sex if I was—hehe, I can't even say that." Blaine said, sitting on the edge of the bed and giggling, a silly grin on his face. "You'll get mad at me."

"It's a good thing you're usually precious." Kurt sighed. "I'll be right back."

"Bring the puppy! Bring the puppy!" Blaine called after him. "I love the dumb puppy!"

 _I_ _'_ _m_ _going_ _to_ _kill_ _you_ , Kurt texted to David as he grabbed a bag of Tostitos. He debated getting the salsa too, but decided against it. Like he wanted a) to clean up red vomit and b) to have to get salsa out of his white sheets.

 _At_ _least_ _I_ _didn_ _'_ _t_ _leave_ _you_ _with_ _Wes_ and _Blaine._ _Wes_ _has_ _currently_ _waged_ _war_ _with_ _my_ _kitchen_ _utensils_ _and_ _has_ _turned_ _my_ _entire_ _living_ _room_ _into_ _a_ _fort,_ David texted back. Seconds later photographic proof of this fort displayed on his phone.

"Shit, don't you dare!" Kurt exclaimed, running into his bedroom. Luckily Blaine hadn't messed with anything. Instead, he was struggling to unbutton his pants.

"Stupid—snaps—belt—." He grunted. "Snappy—buttons—hate buttons."

"Waging war on buttons again?" Kurt asked, having to smile.

"Help." Blaine demanded.

Kurt grabbed a pair of Blaine's pajama pants and came over, easily undoing the button.

"My savior!" Blaine cried dramatically, tugging Kurt on top of him and falling back against the bed.

"Blaine!" Kurt laughed.

"Mmh, don't you want me?" Blaine said, fumbling to tug of Kurt's pajama shirt. "Don't you think I'm sexy?"

"Not when your breath smells like throw up." Kurt responded, rolling off of Blaine easily and standing.

"I'll brush my teeth?"

"I don't think so." Kurt grabbed a glass of water he had brought off of the nightstand and pushed it into Blaine's hands. "Drink. Drink it all."

"Okie dokie." Blaine said, tipping his head back and drinking every last drop of the water. When it was gone, he even kept the cup in his mouth and hit the bottom repeatedly "just to make sure."

"Now eat these chips." Kurt said, holding out the bag of Tostitos.

"Hey, Kurt, let's get married." Blaine said very simply.

Kurt's breath caught in his throat and he was unable to think momentarily. Eventually, he said, "Okay. Let me just go get some nice clothes on."

"Really?" Blaine asked eagerly, standing up _on_ the bed. "Shotgun wedding! Awesome party! Best night _ever_!"

"Blaine!" Kurt yelped as Blaine stumbled off of the bed.

" _We_ _'_ _re_ _going_ _to_ _the_ _chapel_ _and_ _we_ _'_ _re_ _gonna_ _get_ _married_!" Blaine sang, struggling to sit up despite his uncooperative limbs.

"Oh my God, honey, get back in bed." Kurt rushed over.

Blaine giggled and wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist, nuzzling his shoulder affectionately. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, sweetie." Kurt hugged him.

"We're not really getting married are we?" Blaine asked, sounding disappointed.

"No, sweetie." Kurt said, kissing his cheek. "Not tonight."

Blaine leaned up and kissed him lazily.

"Your breath smells like alcohol." Kurt whined, pulling away.

"Ooh, snack." Blaine tore open the bag, sending several chips flying, and eagerly grabbed a handful.

Kreacher ran into the room.

"I'll share with you, dumb dog. C'mere!" Blaine declared, patting his lap.

Kreacher hopped onto his lap and began licking each Tostito chip before Blaine got a chance to put it in his mouth. Blaine giggled, just eating the chips anyway and repeatedly insisting, "See, Kurt? I told you I'm capable of sharing food!"

"Blaine, if you ever want to have sex again—or even kiss again— you better stop eating after the dog." Kurt threatened. "I'm not even joking. I'm about to vomit. You don't know where that tongue has been."

"Sharing is caring, Kurt." Blaine said very seriously. "Just like you should share your body with my body."

Kurt huffed loudly, pulling Blaine up.

"Are we gonna do it standing up?" Blaine asked eagerly.

"No, Blaine." Kurt snapped. "I'm doing that so you will quit eating after the dog."

"Oh, I don't feel so good." Blaine said, leaning forward.

"No, no, no!" Kurt said quickly as Blaine threw up all over the front of his shirt. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. _Blaine_!"

"Sorry." Blaine chirped, wiping his mouth off and then wiping it on his pajama pants.

"Blaine, I'm going to kill you tomorrow."

"Kill me dead!" Blaine cried excitedly.

"That's right." Kurt, nose scrunched up, as he carefully pulled the vomit covered t-shirt off of himself and then moved on to the pants. "Get in bed."

"Are you coming?" Blaine arched an eyebrow suggestively. "Cause you look sexy as… as sexy."

"I am not sexy as sexy. That doesn't even make sense." Kurt sighed, pushing Blaine down onto the bed.

"I like where this is going."

"You won't like it when I make you buy me new pajamas. Do you know how expensive those were?"

"You don't need 'em." Blaine waved his hand in the air. "They're never on long anyway."

"I'd appreciate it if you'd cooperate with me a little bit considering I'm going to have to call Dad tomorrow and tell him I can't come in to help and then call in at Kennedy's for _you_. Don't you care that you could lose your job? You know they were annoyed when you took the time off for your wisdom teeth." Kurt sighed heavily, tugging on clean pajamas.

"I don't wanna go to bed, Kurt. Don't make me go to bed." Blaine whined.

"I don't want you to keep on acting like this!" Kurt said, a little louder than he intended.

Blaine fell silent, looking at Kurt with round hazel eyes.

"Just—just—I don't want to have sex, okay? I don't want to have sex. I want you to get—I want you to go to sleep so you'll wake up sober. I really don't like when you're drunk." Kurt said, lowering his voice. He touched Blaine's face, feeling guilty at clearly having upset his boyfriend. "Okay? Just calm down a bit or something."

Blaine looked down at his hands, biting his lip.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." Kurt said, reaching out and brushing some of Blaine's hair back. "I just don't like you acting like this. I don't want to have sex with you when you're drunk, Blaine."

Blaine just tossed a chip into his mouth, scowling.

Kurt sighed, sitting by him and stroking his hair. "Did I hurt your feelings?"

"Yeah." Blaine moped, eating another chip.

"I'm sorry, Blaine." Kurt repeated, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "Forgive me?"

"Uh huh." Blaine nodded. "But I'm still horny, Kurt."

Kurt laughed a bit, ruffling his messy hair. "I think you told me once or twice, babe. I'll be right back. I'm going to go and get you some more water."

Blaine nodded and watched Kurt go into the bathroom.

"Okay, here. Drink up." Kurt said moments later, handing him his cup once again. "All of it."

"I got it, I got it." Blaine insisted, drinking some of the water. He was a little too eager, though, and spilled some on himself. "Whoops."

"Well at least you drank _most_ of it." Kurt commented, setting the cup back on their nightstand and then stroking his dark curls, smiling at him.

"Can we get a pet monkey instead of a cat?" Blaine asked, perking up.

"Monkey?"

"Yep. It can wear a diaper and we'll teach it to throw poop at people we don't like." Blaine giggled, lying down.

"I don't think our landlord would appreciate it if we brought a monkey into the apartment." Kurt laughed a tiny bit, rubbing Blaine's back.

"We don't have to tell."

"I'm pretty sure a monkey will make it's presence known."

Blaine heaved a sigh. "Yeah… you're right… but I wanted to name him Mo. Mo the Monkey."

"Mo the Monkey." Kurt snorted. "You're really something else, you know?"

Blaine curled up to Kurt and pulled him down, giggling. "Are you sure you don't want my bod?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes. I'm sure, Blaine. Not tonight. Go to sleep."

"Mmkay." Blaine nuzzled him and, within seconds, let out a soft snore.

* * *

"Oh God, what did I _do_?" Blaine moaned, pulling the covers up over his head and burrowing his face in his pillow the next morning.

"Please don't get sick again. You've been in the bathroom most of the night." Kurt said, his voice muffled by the blanket covering Blaine's head. "I considered just bringing the blanket in there so we didn't have to keep going back and forth."

"Shit." Blaine pulled the blanket down slowly and peered at his boyfriend. "I got drunk."

"You got drunk." Kurt nodded very seriously. "I called in at Kennedy's for you. Luckily they were overstaffed today. Your boss said he hopes you feel better."

"Shit." Blaine repeated, curling up in a ball. "My head."

Kurt bent over, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Should I go and get some Tylenol?"

"Preferably the whole bottle." Blaine moaned.

Kurt disappeared and came back a minute later, a tall glass of water in one hand and two Tylenol in the other. "For you, sir."

"I'm such an idiot." Blaine mumbled, taking the pills and swallowing them.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone so drunk in my entire life, Blaine." Kurt said very seriously. "Then again, I don't have all that much experience with it."

"I'm so sorry." Blaine tugged the covers over his head again. "So sorry."

Kurt rubbed his back through the covers. "It's alright, I suppose. Do you know that you are impossibly horny when you're drunk?"

"Oh God." Blaine moaned. "Why did David even bring me home?"

"I don't think he thought he could handle you _and_ Wes." Kurt snorted. "You need to eat something because you were throwing up all night. What do you want?"

"There is no way I can eat anything right now, Kurt." Blaine mumbled into the pillow.

"You should at least try." Kurt urged.

Blaine sat up, looking sick.

"Oh God. You cannot have to throw up. There's nothing left _to_ throw up." Kurt said quickly, moving to pull him up.

"No, no. Just a headache." Blaine fell back over and pulled the pillow over his face.'M going back to bed, Kurt."

"Do you need anything?" Kurt asked.

"Yes. I need you to kill Wes." Blaine said, moving his head out from under the pillow. "Very slowly and painfully."

"I have a feeling he's going to be out of commission longer than you, given the pictures David's been sending me of his… destructive tendencies."

Blaine, who normally would have perked up and asked to see them, just shrugged and fell asleep.

* * *

"I cannot believe I did that." Blaine said several hours later, coming into the living room and curling up to Kurt on the couch. He was still in his pajamas from the night before and his hair was messier than Kurt had ever seen it before. "I'm going to kill Wes."

"Wes cannot be held accountable for _your_ actions." Kurt said, closing his copy of Vogue.

"You didn't tell me that came in." Blaine reached for it, grunting. "Why did you put it where I can't reach it?"

'Because it's funny to watch you get frustrated." Kurt said, grabbing it for him. "Fun night?"

Blaine narrowed his eyes, mostly teasing, and opened the magazine. "I'm going to kill Wes."

"It's not Wes' fault you drank."

"Oh, it's always Wes' fault." Blaine responded without looking up from the magazine.

"How can it—."

"Always Wes' fault." Blaine repeated. "Always. All the time. All of them."

"Okay." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"What the hell is _this_?" Blaine said, arching his eyebrow and turning the issue of Vogue upside down. "Nope. It doesn't look any better upside down."

"But the guy next to her is hot." Kurt said, pointing.

"Eh. He's okay." Blaine shrugged, flipping the page. "It's going to be so weird when you're in here."

"If I make it in there." Kurt said, ruffling Blaine's curls. "Melody would be _dying_ right now, Blaine. She may love your hair more than me."

"God, I can't believe that poop explosion." Blaine said, moving so that he was lying over Kurt's legs. "How was there so much of it?"

"I don't know but it was gross." Kurt said, still playing with his hair. "I can't believe you lived with a baby and never dealt with a poop explosion, though. Have you ever even changed a diaper?"

"I handed you that diaper that one time when she was three months old. Does that count?"

Kurt laughed loudly.

"Don't, no, don't." Blaine said, covering his ears.

"I'm sorry." Kurt giggled, bending down and kissing his cheek. "I'm sorry."

"Shh. Quiet time." Blaine said, putting his hand over Kurt's mouth.

Kurt scowled and said something that was muffled by Blaine's hand, which prompted a bigger scowl.

"Hey, this is kind of nice." Blaine teased, lowering his hand.

"You should be nicer to the person you spent trying to molest all last night." Kurt teased. "By the way, you must think you're hot stuff when you're drunk or something."

Blaine's eyes widened.

Kurt spread his arms out, making a silly pose. " _Don_ _'_ _t_ _you_ _want_ _my_ _bod?_ _You_ _'_ _re_ _sexy_ _as_ _sexy,_ _let_ _'_ _s_ _fuck_."

"Shut up." Blaine laughed. "I didn't say that."

"More or less, you did. Then you proposed."

Blaine made a choking noise, staring at Kurt in shock.

"And I said yes. We went to the court house." Kurt said, grinning.

Blaine blinked at him several times, looking confused. To make it even funnier, he glanced down at his hand.

"And we leave for Paris tonight at five." Kurt continued. "Our rings will be in next week. Finn's picking them up for us."

"Are you joking?"

"Mostly. You did propose, though. And _then_ you started singing 'We're going to the chapel' and then you fell off the bed and _then_ you went on about Mo the Monkey."

"Why do I always embarrass myself when I'm drunk?" Blaine moaned. " _Ugh_!"

"I believe that would be the effects of alcohol." Kurt said cheerfully, smiling at him.

"I've always wanted a monkey named Mo." Blaine said thoughtfully, happy that Kurt at least didn't appear angry—which he had definitely been expecting since Kurt had repeatedly told him to not drink.

"By the way, this was all just the last thirty minutes of my night. Well, my night before you 'went to sleep.' I don't count you being awake when you were throwing up all night because you basically fell asleep with your head in the toilet the whole time." Kurt giggled a bit.

"I have to shower right now." Blaine said, standing. " _Gross_."

"Don't worry. You showered." Kurt tugged him back down. "That's why your hair is so crazy. You fell asleep on it when it was wet."

"Ah." Blaine curled against him, nuzzling his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kurt."

"It's okay. You reassured me that you didn't kiss any of the girls." Kurt laughed. "So we don't have to worry about another Rachel incident."

Blaine leaned up, kissing where Kurt's neck met his shoulder. "I only have kisses for you now… and the baby on occasion when she's feeling affectionate."

"She's such a cute baby." Kurt said, letting out a content sigh and tilting his head.

Blaine smirked and kissed his neck again. "You've got a thing for your neck now. I'm not complaining though. I like your neck."

Kurt giggled a bit. "Stop, Blaine."

"Mmmhno." Blaine said, kissing down his neck. "You're gorgeous, you know that?"

"I try." Kurt said, breath hitching a bit when Blaine began so gently suck. "Stop, stop!"

"Too gorgeous. Can't help myself. I have no restraint, remember?" Blaine smirked into his skin.

"Every time you do this you tickle me a-after." Kurt said, giggling. "And I don't like to be tickled."

"But you always seem to enjoy it." Blaine grinned, sliding his hand up Kurt's side.

"Stop, stop, stop, don't!" Kurt pleaded, trying to move away.

"You're smiling, Kurt." Blaine kissed him.

"I hate you so much!" Kurt whined as Blaine stroked his side.

"I'm not going to tickle you." Blaine laughed.

"Yes, you are." Kurt huffed, squirming under his touch. "I'm not dumb."

"Never dumb." Blaine kissed him again, slowly.

"Hate you." Kurt said into the kiss.

"Love you too." Blaine said, beginning to tickle him.

"Let me goooo! Let me gooo!" Kurt shrieked, laughing and squirming.

"I'm too strong for you." Blaine giggled, not stopping. "You can't get away!"

Kurt giggled helplessly, trying to push Blaine's hand away.

Blaine easily reached with his free hand and held Kurt's over his head.

" _I_ _hate_ _you_!" Kurt whined, unable to kick because Blaine was still half over him and it wouldn't have bothered Blaine anyway.

"You hate me? I may just have to make you laugh more since laughing is a happy thing." Blaine said.

" _I_ _haaaate_ _you_!" Kurt giggled. " _B-Blaine!_ _"_

"Say pretty please." Blaine grinned.

"No!" Kurt said stubbornly, wrestling his hands free. "Stop!"

" _Noo_!" Blaine cried as Kurt freed himself.

"HA! Whose stronger now?" Kurt shrieked, jumping off of the couch and onto the loveseat.

" _No_ _feet_ _on_ _the_ _furniture!_ _No_ _feet_ _on_ _the_ _furniture!_ " Blaine exclaimed, running to it and carefully pulling him down. " _Rule_ _breaker_!"

"Don't tickle me!" Kurt gasped out, beginning to giggle again.

"I'm not." Blaine promised, kissing him.

"You better not. I'm prepared to kick you really hard in your freakishly strong leg." Kurt threatened, leaning back. "Not to mention if you move too much, you might throw up on me again."

"Okay, okay, I won't. I promise." Blaine kissed him again.

"I don't believe I have to sit in a car with you alone for nine hours in a few weeks." Kurt complained after pulling away from the kiss.

Blaine just grinned and nuzzled his shoulder. "Can we have sex?"

"Oh my God, _fine_." Kurt said, pulling away and leading Blaine towards their room.


	34. Chapter 34

"Alright, so… AAA booklet and maps, cash, cards, keys, more cash, directions in case we can't take the bypass…" Blaine mumbled to himself, staring at their kitchen table which was holding everything but the clothes that the boys would be taking with them to Michigan the next morning. "Where's my wallet?"

"Pocket." Kurt said from the counter where he was making sandwiches for the ride. He yawned a bit, cutting a sandwich into two triangles and then putting it into a sandwich bag.

"Duh." Blaine said, eying the table again. "Book, maps, cash, keys… Michigan keys."

"Nightstand." Kurt didn't even look up from the carrots he was now chopping.

"Right. If we leave those, we're fucked beyond fucked." Blaine said, rushing off to the bedroom. He grabbed the desired keys off of the nightstand, let a whining Kreacher out of the room (which he was sure he'd regret within five minutes), and then made his way back into the kitchen.

By the time Blaine made it back, Kurt had neatly piled food and drinks into a mini cooler that they would be taking and he had moved onto bagging other snacks that didn't require cooling.

"How much food do you think we'll need? I've never done this before." Kurt asked, looking up. How long is the drive?"

"About seven hours." Blaine set the Michigan keys onto the table by his car keys and went up behind Kurt, resting his hand on the small of his boyfriend's back. "That's definitely enough food. If we run out, we can stop and get something on the drive."

"Is it too much?" Kurt asked worriedly.

Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt's cheek. "With how much I eat? There can never be too much food."

"This is a valid point." Kurt turned to face Blaine, smiling. "Are you excited for tomorrow?"

"Very excited." Blaine flashed him a huge smile. "Thank you so much for doing this for me."

"You're very welcome." Kurt ruffled Blaine's curly and slightly wet hair. "I know you'd like to sit here and count through everything on the table twenty more times, but we've got a long drive ahead of us tomorrow afternoon. Don't you think we should get into bed?"

"I guess we should." Blaine nodded, kissing Kurt gently.

Kurt grabbed his hand after putting the mini cooler into the refrigerator and then led Blaine into the bedroom. Kreacher followed moments later, crawling under the sheets and scooting his way to the end of the bed.

"We have the weirdest dog ever." Blaine mumbled, tugging off his pajama pants and crawling into bed.

"The best thing is that by time we get back, the air will be fixed." Kurt said, laying over the covers and tugging his own pants off.

"T-shirts and boxers aren't that bad. We've got the fan." Blaine said, scooting close to Kurt. No air or not, he couldn't sleep without being snuggled up with Kurt. They'd tried it the first few nights, but eventually had resigned to the fact that they were just going to have to snuggle and be sticky together. Otherwise they—most especially Blaine—would not get any sleep.

"Wes has no idea what he got himself into saying that he would apartment and dog sit for us, did he?" Kurt asked sleepily, fingers running through Blaine's hair.

"No. I figured it'd be best to beg for forgiveness as opposed to clue him in and ask permission." Blaine responded, yawning and stroking Kurt's side. "He'll survive, as long as he remembers to feed the fishes too. Otherwise I'll kill him."

"Will he get mad?" Kurt yawned also.

"Mmmnah. Wes doesn't get mad. David does." Blaine closed his eyes, by now half asleep. That is, until Kreacher wriggled his way between them and began wagging his tail in Blaine's face as he licked Kurt's. "Kreacher, go."

Kreacher yipped loudly, turning so that his tail was wagging in Kurt's face and he was licking Blaine's.

"Kreacher…" Kurt said slowly.

Kreacher immediately stopped, sitting.

"Foot of the bed now."

Kreacher pranced to the foot of the bed, turned over three times, and laid himself over both Kurt and Blaine's entangled feet.

"You're such a beautiful human being." Blaine mumbled sleepily.

"So you say every time I get Kreacher to leave you alone when you're trying to sleep." Kurt pressed close to him, and was asleep within moments.

* * *

"Kurt, we're here." Blaine said after shutting his car off the next evening. He leaned over, gently shaking his sleeping boyfriend. There wasn't a second to spare. He was finally in Harbor Springs. He wanted to show Kurt his house, to find food, to begin—really begin—their vacation. That couldn't happen as long as Kurt was sleeping in the passenger seat. "Wake up, sweetie."

"Mmh?" Kurt asked, shifting slightly.

"Wake up, my love. We're here." Blaine bent down and kissed him softly.

Kurt kissed back and, after Blaine pulled away, opened his eyes and blinked sleepily. "I don't remember falling asleep. How long have—."

"Three hours." Blaine laughed. "It's ten. You fell asleep as soon as we switched and I started driving."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kurt rubbed his face and stretched out his legs. "Smells like water."

"Well it should." Blaine got out of the car, smiling happily.'Cause there's tons of it!"

Kurt got out also, trying to make his legs wake up. They could hear chattering, moving water, and boat engines in the distance. He looked around curiously but found he wasn't able to see much because it was almost completely dark and the nearest streetlights were far away. The only light was coming from inside nearby houses, which wasn't that much of a help. He had to admit he was a little disappointed that he couldn't even see the full outside of the house that Blaine had described as gorgeous several times.

"Let's get this stuff in and we can eat and then sleep." Blaine said, pulling two bags out of the back seat. "We can go to the store in the morning. Are you hungry now?"

"Starving." Kurt admitted, gathering the last three bags.

"Want me to get one?" Blaine asked.

"You've got two, you're fine!" Kurt laughed, motioning towards the door with one of the bags.

"Alright, if you're sure." Blaine said, moving up the small driveway. "There are a few steps here. If you wait I'll get the lig—or just go on up."

"I can handle steps." Kurt turned back to smile at him.

Blaine set down the bags and fished the key out of his pocket, moving in front of Kurt. He pushed it open, having to be rather forceful with it, and then moved out of Kurt's way so he could get the bags. "We can go get something to eat for dinner, but we're kind of restricted to fast food. The country club closes at eight. There will be plenty of nights for us to go there though."

"Country club?" Kurt said, dropping one of the bags in shock. He was going to get to eat at a country club?

"Well, yeah." Blaine said, as if it were completely obvious. "But not tonight."

Kurt, who was still a little shell shocked at the prospect of eating at a country club, closed his gaping mouth. His stomach growled and he said, "At this point, I think I'll eat anything."

Blaine simply tossed the bags into the next room, which Kurt could not see inside seeing as Blaine had only turned on a small overheard hallway light, and stepped outside. "C'mon, you."

Kurt went out onto the porch and watched Blaine forcefully tug the door closed.

"Did you lock it?" Kurt asked, although he had clearly seen Blaine not lock the door.

"It's fine." Blaine laughed and nudged Kurt towards the car. "Let's go get some food."

* * *

"Don't talk very loud when we get out of the car. Noise carries and there's a strict curfew after ten." Blaine whispered an hour later, pulling up outside of his house again.

"But we're over eighteen?"

"It's a Harbor Springs thing. It's in the rule book." Blaine explained in a hushed voice, getting out of the car and eagerly getting their fresh box of pizza out of the back seat. "There are a lot of elderly people here who live year around and petitioned for it… I mean, I can see why. The kids in the area can be really loud and stuff. They pay enough for these houses that they shouldn't have to fool with that. During the summer it kind of gets taken over by families who only come once or twice a year and stay for, like, whole seasons."

Kurt looked around, and saw that nobody was out. Even the previous chattering had ended and there was only one boat out in the water, but it was so far away that they couldn't even hear it.

"Pay enough for the houses? How can you pay enough to make people not be out after ten?" Kurt asked quietly. "How much was your house?"

"One million cash." Blaine said simply, pushing the door open.

Kurt stopped in his tracks, jaw dropping. "One—One million-cash—wow."

"Are you going to come inside, silly?" Blaine asked, holding the screen door open for Kurt.

"Yeah." Kurt said, climbing the porch stairs and going in, following Blaine down the small hallway he'd been in before.

"The light switch is right there on the left. Can you get it?"

Kurt felt around before his fingers brushed the light switch and he turned it on. He gasped again when he saw an absolutely beautiful kitchen which led into an even prettier sitting room. "Oh my God."

"Enough to make you want to put up with me until my grandmother dies?" Blaine joked, sitting the pizza box on top of the kitchen table which was much too fancy to have a Pizza Hut box on top of it.

Kurt didn't answer. In fact, he barely heard him because he was turning his head in every direction he could, taking in the surroundings. One wall, by a huge refrigerator, was filled with pictures—some elegantly framed and some just tacked or taped between the frames ones with no real apparent pattern.

"I've never seen so many pictures in one small area in my life." Kurt said, in awe. "Can I look?"

"Sure." Blaine shrugged and looked in the refrigerator. "I'll be right back. We left the two liters in the car."

"Oops, sorry." Kurt said, looking at all of the photos. Some were so old that were worn and yellow, corners turning up. But there were some that were clearly newer. He was able to spot Blaine in three or four without even having to look for him—not that it was hard to miss the mop of curls Blaine had sported until he was sixteen or seventeen.

It wasn't until he looked over a picture of a little toddler sitting on a boat with a man that Kurt knew to be Blaine's father that he let out a squeal as Blaine came back into the house. "You are so cute!"

"Hmm?" Blaine asked, putting the ice in the freezer and the two liters in the fridge.

"Oh my God, Blaine, you're so cute!" Kurt repeated.

"What are you looking at?" Blaine asked curiously, walking over. "Oh, yeah. That's me."

"I know it's you! Oh my God, you were so precious. Oh, Blaine, look!"

"I see." Blaine laughed.

Kurt let out a noise very close to a whimper. "That smile. You really do look like Danny, but thirty times cuter. And your eyes in this picture, and your hair, and your everything. I have never seen a cuter picture of a toddler, Blaine."

"Gee, thanks, sir." Blaine said, pretending to be embarrassed.

"You look so happy." Kurt said, voice softer.

"I was." Blaine said, his smile lessening a bit. "At least, I guess I was. I was only a toddler."

Kurt seemed to sense some sort of tension in the room and turned to face him. "You're fathering all of our babies if you looked this cute when you were little. I want babies that look exactly like you." He said, looking right into Blaine's eyes and letting out a content little sigh.

"I forgot you'd never seen pictures of me when I was little." Blaine laughed a bit.

"Are there more?" Kurt asked. "Who are these people? Are they all family?"

"Most." Blaine said thoughtfully, pointing. "It's all people from my dad's side of the family or family friends.

"Do you have aunts and uncles?" Kurt asked suddenly, realizing just how little he really knew about Blaine's family. "You've never mentioned…"

"On my mom's side but I've never even met them." Blaine shrugged. "My dad was an only child. These are, like, my great uncles and stuff from Dad's side of the family."

"Are they… like your parents?"

"They're all like my parents." Blaine sighed and pointed to a specific picture. "That's Alex when he was little right there."

Kurt tilted his head. "Oh. He looks more like your mom."

"That's his wife." Blaine pointed to a separate picture, with a slightly older Alex and a very pretty woman. "Mia or Amelia or something like that. This is them in Italy. It's pretty old."

"Have you ever met her?"

"No. Alex never brings her around here. She refuses to come and I don't blame her." Blaine yawned a bit. "That's my Grandpa, Alex, and I."

"Now he looks nice." Kurt said, bending down to look at the picture Blaine was referring to.

"He was very nice." Blaine said sincerely. "He was too good for my grandmother. I think she only stuck around for the money and the last name."

"How could someone do that?" Kurt wondered aloud, looking at another picture of Blaine's grandparents together.

"I don't know." Blaine sighed. "When I was younger I always used to worry that someone would do that to me, if they found out about my money…"

"Is that why you didn't tell me right off?" Kurt asked curiously.

"Not really, no." Blaine nudged him. "I knew you were around for the curls."

Kurt giggled a bit and leaned against him, reaching his hand back and touching Blaine's cheek. "Something like that."

"Something like that?" Blaine questioned.

"I mean, there's the voice too. And your eyes. I think the voice and the eyes pulled me in." Kurt said thoughtfully. "Think about it. I didn't even know your hair was curly for a few months. I was already in love before I saw them."

"The curls just sealed the deal." Blaine said, rocking them slowly.

"I had to look over the height thing."

"Ha ha ha. Look over." Blaine scoffed.

Kurt smirked.

"What will you do if I ever grow, hmm? What if I'm taller than you one day?"

"It will never happen." Kurt shrugged. "But if it did, it'd be an adjustment. I'd have to find something else to make fun of since you know my true feelings about the curls."

"I… I… I…" Blaine said, mimicking how Kurt had stuttered the first time he'd ever seen Blaine's curls.

"I… I… I hate you." Kurt huffed, rather embarrassed at the memory of him just staring at his then best friend, in complete shock—and maybe just a bit of want, too.

"Every time you saw me with curly hair after that was on purpose." Blaine whispered in his ear. "Just so you know."

"How old were you here? Who are you with?" Kurt asked, pointing to a picture with a younger Blaine just to change the subject.

"That was me and Tyler."

"Your old best friend?" Kurt asked, his voice sharp.

"Yeah." Blaine nodded. "It was taken on the dock."

"So did you live here and then move for Dalton?"

"No, no. A lot of people in Westerville have summer homes in or around here. He lives a few blocks down." Blaine explained. "Oh, and that right there is my mom and dad with me when I was a baby."

"Aww." Kurt cooed. "You were a chubby little thing."

"Still am." Blaine grinned and tilted his head. "Mom was a lot prettier back then."

"What about this one?" Kurt asked, pointing to another picture of Blaine when he was younger.

"Me and my grandpa before a soccer game. He took me to all of my games." Blaine said.

"Why don't you talk about him?"

"He's just been gone a while." Blaine said, voice soft. He pointed to another picture of himself. "That's me, Wes, and David. Look at David's hair."

Kurt smiled when Blaine slid his arms around his waist, pulling him close. "I'm glad we came…"

"Yeah?" Blaine asked, kissing his neck gently.

"It's just nice to see these pictures and kind of… see where you're from a bit at least." Kurt explained. "I don't know… It's hard to explain."

"Hmm?"

"You know all of my family for the most part—on my dad's side at least, you've seen pictures of me as a toddler. And it's nice to see pictures of the people you know. It's kind of like I'm getting at least a glimpse into your world before us." Kurt said. "It's nice to see you as a baby and see this house that you always talk about and love… It really is gorgeous, Blaine. The two rooms I've seen at least."

Blaine smiled, tugging him towards the table. "Let's eat and I'll give you a tour?"

"Alright." Kurt nodded, sitting at the table. He looked around while Blaine rummaged for plates and glasses. "This place is worth a million?"

"Well it's worth more now. Grandpa put a lot of money into it and so has my dad." Blaine said, placing two plates and glasses on the table and putting pizza on each. "That sitting room is an extension. See how there is, like, a sliding door to it?"

Kurt leaned over and nodded.

"It's new. There aren't really walls, but just huge windows."

"Can you see the beach from it?"

"No, but you can from my room. It's one of the reasons I like my room here so much." Blaine smiled, sliding a chair right next to his and sitting so their legs and arms were touching despite the fact that all of the chairs surrounding the table were far apart from each other. Kurt thought that was ironic considering how distant Blaine's family really seemed to be. "You can see Mrs. Turner's house. The yards are all connected."

"So there's not really privacy?" Kurt asked.

"Yes and no." Blaine shrugged. "Everyone's quiet and stuff… apart from the kids, I guess, but that's expected anywhere. You don't have to worry a lot about being disturbed or anything."

Kurt took a bite of his pizza and looked around curiously because there was just so much to see and he felt like missing anything was like missing a part of Blaine. Being here, in this house, was really like getting to know a whole other part of Blaine's life that he'd been… well, mostly clueless about. He felt closer, seeing the things Blaine loved so much.

By the time he was done with his pizza, Blaine was already washing his own dishes. "Done?"

"Yeah." Kurt nodded, making his way over and washing his own, making sure to not drop the dishes or scratch them. One cup was probably worth more than every piece in his parent's kitchen put together twice.

"You don't have to be so careful." Blaine said, tugging him down a hallway and up some stairs.

Kurt tried to look at pictures as he went, but Blaine was too eager to let him linger for long.

"Okay, this is a pretty room. It's my Grandma's though." Blaine said, opening the first door that they came to. "It's got a double bathroom that is pretty freaking awesome."

"Double bathroom?" Kurt echoed, stepping into the gorgeous room and looking around. "Damn, Blaine. When you said your family was loaded, you really meant it, didn't you? How much are you all worth?"

"The overall inheritance—mine, Alex, and my parent's put together—is 14.1 million." Blaine said. "It's split up evenly."

"But that's just the inheritance?" Kurt said, his blue eyes wide.

"The economy sucks, so it's gone down a lot I'm sure… but when I was 14, the family was worth ten million." Blaine said, a little hesitantly.

"So overall almost 24 million dollars when you add in the inheritance." Kurt said, jaw dropping. How was that even possible?

"I wouldn't get anything other than what's entitled to me by the inheritance, obviously. But yeah." Blaine nodded. "My grandfather was a really good investor and my entire family has always had a lot of money because they get huge jobs… Grandpa just put that money away and made it into even bigger money."

"So… all of these houses around here are… well, rich?"

"The people, yes." Blaine laughed. "Not the houses."

"You know what I meant." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Wow, Blaine. I feel like I need to bow whenever I see you or something. You're not just rich, you're rich."

Blaine slid his arms around Kurt's waist, kissing the back of his neck. "I'm still the Blaine I was last week and when we met. I hope you don't feel weird."

"It's just strange." Kurt admitted. "I don't feel weird or uncomfortable… it's just so crazy to think about… you having so much money. You could do anything, Blaine. You could have just not even gone to college, waited out for your inheritance, and then… do nothing your entire life."

"I'll leave the doing nothing but living off of someone else's money to my mother." Blaine said, frowning. "This money… I mean…"

"What?" Kurt asked, getting the feeling that something was up but not quite sure what.

"I don't know… I guess I try to not think about it. I mean, who knows what could happen between now and when I supposedly get this inheritance? Besides, who needs all of that money anyway? I don't know what I'll even do with it when I get it." Blaine sighed and then added, "If I get it."

"Why wouldn't you get it?" Kurt asked.

"I don't know." Blaine shook his head. "I don't underestimate my family, Kurt. I've seen my grandmother do shitty things to good people… and she wouldn't even consider me good."

Kurt sighed a bit and turned in Blaine's arms, sliding his own arms around Blaine's waist and looking at him very carefully. "Even if you don't get it, that's okay. Just look at how much you've done on your own without it. You've done very well without them. I think you're going to be bigger than your family."

"I don't know how I'll outdo 24 million." Blaine let out a small laugh.

"Money isn't the only thing that makes you better than others. Having a heart and common decency… helping others… That's what makes people better. And everything you are and want to do is just that." Kurt said softly.

"Yeah." Blaine nodded a bit, not looking convinced. It was still nice to hear, though. Kurt could always make him feel even a little better.

"It really wouldn't matter if you think about it, because you've already shown that you don't need them or anything associated with them… We're going to be just fine without any help from them." Kurt said, trying to reassure him a little bit. "Are you scared about not getting the money?"

"I'm not scared of not getting it… I'm just scared of not being able to do stuff on my own. I don't forget that your dad's paying for UK, Kurt. I'm not as 'on my own' as it seems." Blaine admitted, but then he smiled. "I try to not worry about it, but when I think about the money it always pops into my head too, you know?"

"I do know." Kurt gave him a tight squeeze. "I think that we shouldn't think about money anymore for the remainder of the trip… This is about de-stressing."

"I completely agree." Blaine said, smile growing. "And, you know, I think there are a few more rooms I haven't showed you yet."

"More than a few." Kurt snorted.

"The one I'm most eager to show you is my room. I think a lot of de-stressing could happen in there if you get what I mean." Blaine nudged him.

"I think I have a feeling I think I know what you're talking about, Blaine Anderson." Kurt smirked. "Why don't you show me that room? So I can… you know… help you de-stress."

* * *

"You're right. This is the most comfortable bed ever." Kurt said the next morning, curling up to his less than half dressed boyfriend. "Can we steal it?"

"I wish. I don't think it'll fit in the car." Blaine mumbled sleepily, burrowing his face in Kurt's bare chest. "We should have sex and sleep mostly naked more often."

"Isn't that how it always works?" Kurt laughed.

"Yep. We should still do it more." Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt's collar bone and rested against him.

Kurt giggled a bit and ran his fingers through Blaine's hair, humming quietly.

"I wonder what time it is." Blaine wondered aloud.

"I left my watch at home so I wouldn't lose it, so I don't know." Kurt shrugged and kissed the top of his head. "Does it matter?"

"Suppose not." Blaine kissed his chest again and draped an arm over his stomach.

Kurt laid silently, hands stroking Blaine's hair and back, while he listened to kids laughing and playing outside. Blaine dozed off every so often, always nuzzling his face into Kurt's neck when he came to and earning himself a big hug. While Kurt often teased Blaine for being a 'snuggle bunny,' he really wouldn't have Blaine any other way.

"Think we'd be doing this is we were home?" Kurt asked what seemed like ages later.

"Probably not." Blaine yawned and forced himself to sit up, his hair even messier than usual pre-shower mornings.

"No, no, come back." Kurt whined, tugging him down. "We don't have anywhere to be."

"I need to potty though." Blaine said, hopping out of bed despite his boyfriend's protests. "I'll be right back."

Kurt nodded and climbed out of bed as well, pulling a pair of Blaine's larger pajama pants over his boxers. "Is there any food here?"

"It should just be the pizza from last night." Blaine called from the bathroom. "Anything else here is a year old, but I'm sure the place has been cleaned. We'll go get some."

Kurt wondered down the stairs, peering into rooms on his way curiously but not actually stepping into any, thinking it might have been rude to really look around Blaine's rooms without his presence. He had just finished putting their dishes from the night before away when Blaine's arms wrapped around his waist. "No shirt and my pants? I could learn to live with this."

"Don't get too excited. I was just too lazy to get to my bag for a shirt and your pants are more comfortable. It won't be an everyday occurrence." Kurt responded, watching Blaine's hands.

"Well damn." Blaine moved so they were facing and gently traced Kurt's scar on his chest, eyes locked on his boyfriend.

"I don't think it's going to fade at all." Kurt let out a quiet sigh. "I've tried all of the creams I can think of."

"It could still." Blaine said, eyes going to the thin scar. "It's not that bad."

"I think it is." Kurt sighed again, thinking about why that scar was there—something he didn't allow himself to do too much.

"It's fine." Blaine said firmly, kissing him on the lips.

"It itches sometimes." Kurt said absentmindedly, looking down at it.

"At least now if any dark wizards are around, we'll know." Blaine grinned. "Then again, we've already got Kreacher. When he starts attempting to kill us, we'll know something is up."

Kurt giggled, arms going around Blaine's neck. "Speaking of Kreacher, I wonder how Wes is holding up. Should we call him and make sure everything is okay?"

"No." Blaine giggled also. "It's okay. He owes me."

"For what?"

"Oh, I don't think you'd like the story."

"Probably not." Kurt nuzzled his neck and let out a content sigh. "Let's not go home, Blaine. Let's just stay here… or get a place here. Who needs school and work?"

"I wish." Blaine said quietly, rocking him a bit. "Maybe one day when you're a rich and famous designer and I'm an awesome lawyer, we can relax."

"No. Then we'll have kids." Kurt sighed.

"They'll be cute kids, though." Blaine said, kissing behind his ear.

"Yeah." Kurt smiled.

"They'd be cute no matter which of us fathers them. You were an adorable little kid too. We're destined to have gorgeous babies." Blaine smiled and then added quickly, "In several years. Several."

"How long is several? Because if you're talking no children until we're thirty, you better be talking yourself down four years." Kurt said, giving Blaine a look.

"That's only ten years away, Kurt."

"Only? Ten years is, at this point, more than half of my life." Kurt scoffed. "I want to be married by twenty four and have kids by twenty six."

Blaine's eyes widened. "You want to be married in five years?"

"We've already been together two." Kurt pointed out, shrugging. "I don't see a point in postponing the inevitable."

"I can barely decide what I want to eat for breakfast this morning and you probably already have a wedding date picked out and our kid's estimated birthdays." Blaine said, eyes still wide.

"How do you feel about a winter wedding?" Kurt asked, grinning.

"Wh—." Blaine sputtered.

"Kidding! I'm kidding!" Kurt giggled, kissing his cheek. "I'm just joking. Let's get ready to get breakfast."

"You've got to quit with the marriage jokes." Blaine said, only half joking. "One of these days you're going to forget to mention that you're joking, walk off, and I'm going to have an anxiety attack."

Kurt giggled, moving and looping his arm through Blaine's. "I never knew how fun keeping someone on their toes could be until I met you."

"I like your hobbies that include clothes and music better than the ones that include giving me a heart attack if I'm completely honest with you."

"You know you want to marry me one day." Kurt said, nuzzling Blaine's shoulder

"One day. A long while from now."

"All I can say is I better have a ring on my finger of some sort before the age of twenty five. That leaves you just a little over five years."

"That I can probably deal with… Now we should finish getting dressed so we can eat."

"Thank God. I'm starving. We better go somewhere amazing with all of the hype you make about the food or else I'm going to be sorely disappointed."

…

" _Cornichons_. This is a breakfast and lunch café. It's amazing." Blaine said a little bit later, leading Kurt into a small café and immediately taking a seat at his usual table. "You'll love the French toast. It's so good. Oh, the omelets are too. Really, everything is. You'll like anything you pick. I promise."

"Everything in here smells good." Kurt said, taking a seat directly next to Blaine as opposed to across from him. He was a little worried Blaine might not want him to be so close since they were in an area familiar to his family, but if anything Blaine's smile grew and he grabbed Kurt's hand. "So, does everyone here know who you are?"

"Well everybody should know me by name at least, but they don't know me." Blaine said after a waitress came up to order their drinks. "It's a pretty tight knit community, I guess. Most of the families come here yearly, so you grow up going to summer camp with the kids around you and a lot of the parents help out with the camps, and then when you're older you get part time jobs at the shops… So you really get to know everyone. You don't really have a choice."

"So are you related to anyone else up here?"

"Oh, yeah." Blaine nodded. "No one that would even say hello though."

"You have family that wouldn't even say hello?" Kurt asked slowly. Coming from a very close family, it was hard to grasp things like family members not conversing.

"Well it's kind of complicated." Blaine explained. "But my Grandpa's brother's family… yeah, well, see… My grandpa and his brother got into this huge fight over my great grandpa's house when he died."

"Their dad died and they fought over a house?"

"Yes. It went to both of them. My grandfather wanted to keep it but his brother wanted to fix it up and sell it… Long story short, the brother got the house."

"And sold it?" Kurt asked.

"Nope. He and my grandpa put all this money into it together and he just kept it." Blaine shrugged.

"That's awful!" Kurt gasped.

"I guess. So it started this whole… like… the family essentially split into two over it. So they have the house, my grandpa bought ours…" Blaine explained. "It's carried to today still, though. If anyone from the other side walks by, you just don't even acknowledge it. It's kind of stupid if you ask me. Yeah, my grandpa had a reason to be upset… but they're really making it a bigger deal than it needs to be."

"Rich people and their family drama." Kurt said, smiling when the waitress brought their drinks.

"There's a lot of it." Blaine said, ordering their food and shooting the waitress a friendly smile.

"So, it's your… So, the house we're in is your grandparents, but your grandpa's brother has another house? And they hate your family?" Kurt asked slowly. "Does anyone in your family actually like each other?"

"That's a really good question." Blaine laughed.

"Kurt sighed a bit and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry that you don't have a proper family, Blaine. If anyone deserves that, it's you."

Blaine smiled and leaned against Kurt. "The alternative is kind of nice, don't you think?"

"I certainly won't complain that we've taken you captive." Kurt leaned forward, pressing his lips to the side of Blaine's face. "I love you."

"I love you." Blaine smiled happily. "I've got so much to show you. There's so much I want to see… Well, so much I want you to see… I just love this place, you know? Thank you so much for coming here with me."

"Shh." Kurt kissed him. "You're very welcome. I wanted you to be able to come, babe. I know you've missed it. I'm glad we came."

Blaine's smile grew and he sat up straight when the waitress brought their food out. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem, sweetheart! Just let me know if you boys need anything." The waitress gave him a kind smile and then left them to eat.

"What are we going to do today?" Kurt asked curiously, letting go of Blaine's hand so they could both eat.

"Hmm… Well, I want to take you to Howse's Fudge today for sure. We have to go to the New York Restaurant and the Stafford's Pier Restaurant at some point. They're on different ends of the town. We just can't not go to the New York Restaurant, but Stafford's is new and it's supposed to be amazing…. So we'll get dinner at one of those two today… Oh! And we'll get pizza at Turkey's for lunch! Oh God, Kurt, you're going to love it." Blaine said excitedly.

"Sounds good." Kurt laughed at him.

"I want to show you around the pier and the overall area… so we'll go on a walk today. And there's a mall about forty minutes away that I figured we could go to so you can shop some."

"We don't have to do that. I want to stay here." Kurt took a bite of his French Toast, eyes widening when he tasted it. "Oh my God, Blaine, this is amazing."

"Told you." Blaine grinned, beginning to eat his own food. "There is no food like Harbor Springs food. I don't care what anyone says."

"You're just really weird about food anyway." Kurt laughed again, eating quickly and attempting to look around the small café.

"I know." Blaine finished his food and watched Kurt as he looked around. "You like it here."

"Hmm?"

"Mr. Kurt Hummel who would live in a shopping mall likes this little old town." Blaine nudged his foot under the table. "Don't you?"

"It's very you." Kurt explained. "And I like you, so yeah, I guess I do."

"Aw, Kurt likes me." Blaine reached over and linked his finger's with Kurt's.

"Shouldn't that be obvious by now?" Kurt teased.

"Yes. It is." Blaine kissed his cheek. "I'll pay and then we can go."

Kurt nodded and gathered up their things as Blaine went to pay. Once he had everything he went and stood behind Blaine as he paid, hating Blaine's parents more than he ever had. Blaine loved this place, and it was just one more thing that had been taken from him by his family.

Blaine led him out, still walking just as close to Kurt as he had been before when there hadn't been as many people out. Blaine didn't seem to mind holding hands with him out in public in an area where his family would likely hear about it. Then again, the other people didn't seemed to be all that bothered by them holding hands in the first place. They did get a few curious looks, but that was truly the extent of it.

As they walked, Blaine pointed out various things—some shops they never made their way into, the church, the school, the park, more shops, and tons and tons of boats as they walked on the dock.

They continued their walk down the pier which Kurt was beginning to realize never ended, nearly getting pushed in several times by kids riding around on bikes or running around with spray guns. "Where are their parents?"

"On boats, at the Club, at home. Kids kind of just run around wherever." Blaine shrugged and waved at someone who was sitting outside of a restaurant. "But everyone in this town is nice so it's okay. And you can tell its super small. I mean, look. You can see my dock from here."

"You say everyone is nice but your parents live here. It seems really nice but it just isn't adding up." Kurt said, not able to picture Blaine's horrible parents conversing with these people.

"My parents like the image of this place. They like nice things but they don't touch them. They want to look like the perfect family."

"Yeah, you've said that before."

"It's something like this. 'Oh, don't you know that my oldest son Alexander—he studied abroad in college, met a beautiful Italian girl, and they just got married and have a baby. They live in a secluded town in an adorable house on the beach! And my youngest son Blaine—he went to Dalton and graduated top of his class. They wanted him at Duke and UCLA for soccer, but he's going to UK. They have a very prestigious English department—some of the best professors in the country have taught there, did you know? And after, he's going to law school. He takes after his grandmother. She's running for Congress, did you know? And next week we're going to our cottage in Harbor Springs, Michigan. We eat at a Country Club nightly and spend our nights in a house that my husband's grandfather paid with 1 million dollars cash. We would never fool with flying there, heavens no. We have cars that get us there—the best you can buy in Europe, of course. Blaine said, making his voice high.

"Does your mother really talk like that?" Kurt asked.

"To everyone." Blaine sighed, finally reaching his house. "She makes us out to be this ideal family that everyone should want when we're really the farthest thing from it… but this place is the only thing I liked about my childhood."

"Maybe you'll get the house." Kurt said quietly, so that no one else would hear.

"Maybe." Blaine laughed a bit. "I don't know. I'd really like that… It kind of sucks to not have more time here."

"Hey! That's the fudge place, isn't it?" Kurt asked, pointing to a miniature shop that had a sign reading Howse's Fudge on the outside.

"God, yes it is." Blaine tugged Kurt into the shop a little too excitedly for being twenty years old.

"This is adorable." Kurt said, looking around at the brightly painted walls and the one table with two chairs in the corner—it wasn't big enough to hold any more than that, but he could see several tables outside of the building to the side through the window.

"I know. They redo the paint job every few years so it changes a lot." Blaine said from the counter as a kind elderly lady gave him two huge slices of chocolate fudge. "Thanks, Mrs. Howse."

"You're very welcome, dear." She smiled at him before disappearing into the back of the shop. "You've had amazing breakfast. Now have some amazing fudge."

Kurt took a bite and hit Blaine's shoulder with the back of his hand, saying with his mouth full, "Quit giving me such good food!"

Blaine just smiled and kissed him, right in the middle of the shop. "Okay, okay. We'll do something that isn't food related now."

"Thank you." Kurt laughed, cutting another tiny piece off with the tiny plastic knife that came with the fudge and stuffing it into his mouth. "It's so good, Blaine!"

"I know!" Blaine exclaimed, walking out of the shop. Kurt was beginning to recognize stuff as they walked back in the direction of Blaine's house since he'd now seen it twice. He was also beginning to notice things that Blaine hadn't pointed out—although most of them were just shops that sold boating supplies or outerwear, which is definitely something Kurt was not interested in.

"This place is all about the boats, isn't it?"

"Basically." Blaine said, mouth full of fudge.

"Where's your boat?"

"On the side of the dock that is nearest my house, right by the beach part." Blaine said, this time having the manners to at least cover his mouth. "It's not as cool as the big ones, though. And I don't have the keys to even get onto it. Todd does… but he's one of my dad's friends and I really don't want to go talk to him. Plus, I don't like sailing anyway. They just made me take the lessons… But I can show you where it's at and everything. We actually already passed it on the way here."

"Okay." Kurt said, lacing his own fingers with Blaine's larger ones.

"We can go home and sit on my dock if you want. We don't have to get into the water."

"Sounds fun." Kurt smiled.

…

"You must like the beach." Blaine said, coming out onto the dock after putting their leftovers from dinner into the fridge later that day.

"It's pretty out here." Kurt answered, scooting close as Blaine sat with him. "And it's getting quiet."

"It's getting late so the kids are all inside." Blaine laughed, swinging his feet back and forth over the water and looking out. "Have you ever been to a real beach?"

"No." Kurt answered honestly. "Dad and I didn't do much traveling unless you count family things… and most of my family is in Ohio and distant family in some parts of Kentucky, as you know. The opportunity just hasn't come up."

"I'll take you one day." Blaine smiled, still looking out at the water. "We'll see everything you want to see."

"I think I would be happy if I just got to be with you." Kurt admitted, looking at him.

Blaine bit his lip, looking at Kurt with some unreadable expression on his face. He then looked down at his feet and let out a little laugh. "I'm not all that great, you know? That's a pretty tall order. Me alone being what makes you happy…"

Kurt leaned over. "But you already are, Blaine. You're an amazing person and I can't see myself with anyone else ever. I love you so much. Without you, I wouldn't be happy. I couldn't be."

Blaine gave him a small smile. "I feel that way about you too, you know? I've never felt such a gravitational pull towards someone, Kurt. I can't even put into proper words how I feel when I'm with you… I just know that when I am, everything is right. And if it isn't, I know it will be. I don't want anything else but to be with you forever… I know I'm only twenty and I 'have my whole life ahead of me' and that most people don't even know what career they want, but… but I know I want to be with you and it's just… mind blowing that you want to be with me too..." H fell silent and then added, "That doesn't make the idea of marriage within five years any less terrifying though."

Kurt grabbed his face, crashing his lips against Blaine's. Blaine leaned back until they were in a laying position, scooting back so they weren't in danger of falling into the water.

"I love you so much." Kurt mumbled into the kiss.

"I love you more." Blaine mumbled back, arms going around Kurt and holding him in place.

Kurt slid his hands from Blaine's face down until he had grasped one of Blaine's hands with his own. He squeezed Blaine's hand as Blaine pulled away, taking in a deep breath and then leaning back down for another kiss.

"We're outside and it's still fairly light out." Kurt gasped, pulling away.

"I don't care, I don't care." Blaine pulled him back down, pushing his tongue into Kurt's mouth hungrily.

Kurt moaned into the kiss and did not pull away until Blaine did, gasping for breath.

"Satisfied, babe?" Kurt joked, panting a bit himself.

"Sorry." Blaine said, not looking apologetic in the least bit. Instead, he gave Kurt a lopsided smile. "Ready to go in?"

"Is there any chance we can continue where we left off?"

"Oh, it's a requirement."

"Then I am definitely ready to go in."

* * *

"Shit." Kurt grumbled, eyes narrowing at his jeans two mornings later. "How did I grab the wrong ones?"

"Hmm?" Blaine asked, not looking up from his cell phone where he was texting.

"I brought the wrong jeans." Kurt muttered, turning the jeans over in his hand and then peering back inside his bag to make sure he hadn't accidentally packed two pairs—yeah right, considering Kurt almost never wore jeans. Why would he have?

"The Fashion Gods will forgive you." Blaine snorted.

"It's not funny. It throws off my entire outfit." Kurt said, tugging on the jeans. "I don't even know if I can fit in these anymore, either. I don't know why I keep stuff from high school."

Blaine glanced up curiously and his hazel eyes widened.

Not those.

Not the skinny jeans.

Blaine re-situated himself so he was sitting Indian style, trying so hard to think of anything but those jeans and Kurt's hips and thighs and… This wasn't good.

Kurt glanced down. "Do these still fit?"

"Er, yeah." Blaine said, trying to sound completely normal.

"Are you sure? Would you tell me if they looked hideous?"

"You look good." Blaine managed to say. And it certainly was not a lie.

"Really?" Kurt asked, going to look in the mirror. "Do you think I've gained too much weight? Is my butt getting big?"

Oh God, he's really going to make me look at his ass, Blaine thought, glancing up. It should have been illegal to wear pants that tight with an ass and legs like that. "Your butt is not getting big."

"Good. Because I've started gaining weight back." Kurt sighed. "It's going straight to my thighs."

He has got to stop this before something not good happens.

"Your thighs are fine, Kurt."

Better than fine.

"Can we go for a walk? We're leaving early the day after tomorrow. I figured we could get more of that ice cream."

"The birthday cake batter?" Blaine asked, glad to have a distraction. "Isn't it heavenly?"

Ice cream or not, though, Blaine had one very big problem. How on Earth was he supposed to walk around with Kurt right beside him when he looked like that? How was he supposed to do anything with Kurt in those jeans?

Blaine was in trouble.

…

Kurt knew that Blaine liked his body.

After all, with all the pining that Blaine did for sex, it was pretty obvious.

He was not used to, however, having Blaine eye him hungrily. Anytime he looked at Blaine, the older boy was staring at his butt or his legs. And, as they were walking around, they were in public. Secretly, Kurt hoped it got back to Blaine's parents when they came up. In fact, he wanted to just march up in front of one of his grandmother's speeches.

"Are you as proud as your gay grandson as I am?"

See how she handled that. Of course he would never do such a thing, but he could day dream about it. About letting everyone know just how amazing the person they were pushing from their lives was.

He noticed Blaine looking down again and arched his eyebrow. "Are you sure these look…" he trailed off. Skinny jeans. There had been something about skinny jeans, and Blaine, Wes, and David refused to fill him in and he wanted to know. "Okay?"

"Fine." Blaine said, sidestepping and moving into a shop that he would have wanted no business in if it weren't for needing a distraction.

Kurt smirked a bit to himself. He knew how to figure out what the skinny jeans story was. In fact, he was going to that night.

And he had the perfect idea how.

...

"If you take a picture it will last longer, Blaine."

Blaine looked up from this place on the couch, making his eyes round and innocent. "I don't know what you're talking about?"

"I think you do." Kurt crossed the room and sat on his lap. "You keep staring at my pants."

"I am not." Blaine scoffed.

"You did the whole time we were out." Kurt said, eyeing him. "Do you like what you see?"

"Well I'm dating you for a reason, Kurt."

"I thought it was my charming personality." Kurt teased.

"You keep me on my toes." Blaine said very seriously.

"It wouldn't be fun for you if I didn't." Kurt nuzzled him. "I have a proposition for you on our next to last night here, Blaine."

"Proposition?" Blaine asked warily.

"Yes." Kurt gave him a sweet smile. "I want to play Truth or Dare. With you."

Blaine opened his mouth and then closed it. "What's your angle?"

"No angle." Kurt said sweetly, reaching up and playing with one of his curls. "Just pure unadulterated fun."

"Fun?" Blaine echoed, sounding a little more eager.

"Fun." Kurt repeated, kissing him slowly. "Do you accept the challenge, Blaine Anderson?"

"I'd never turn down something so terribly exciting." Blaine said, grinning into his lips.

"I think it will be interesting." Kurt smirked, climbing off of Blaine and sitting himself on the very expensive coffee table.

"Oh, if my grandmother saw this." Blaine laughed.

Kurt shrugged his shoulder carelessly. "Truth or dare, Anderson?"

"Hmm… Truth."

"So boring." Kurt tsked. "Okay… hmm…"

Blaine tilted his head patiently.

"You can only listen to three songs for the rest of your life. What do you choose?"

"Teenage Dream, Somebody Told Me and…" Blaine hesitated.

"Yes?"

Blaine mumbled something.

"What was that?" Kurt asked.

"Your love is my Drug by Ke$ha."

"I can't listen to Gaga but one of your top three songs in by Ke$ha?" Kurt exclaimed.

"I can't help what music I like!" Blaine exclaimed right back.

"I can't believe you like Ke$ha but not Gaga and Britney. Who are you?"

Blaine shrugged. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Kurt said after a few seconds of debating.

"Alright… Since you went easy on me, I'll go easy on you… since it's your first time and all."

"How do you know it's my first time?"

"By the fact that your first question was about music." Blaine snickered. "Alright, Kurt. What is the longest you've gone without a bath?"

"I shower daily, thank you." Kurt scoffed.

"There has to have been one time you didn't shower once a day." Blaine protested "If you lie, you have to answer five truths. It's a rule."

"Fine, fine. Three days, alright? I was with my Grandparents and the water was shut off because of some city rupture and Dad couldn't get me for three days." Kurt said, sounding horrified and exasperated. "Please don't tell anyone."

"You're so cute." Blaine giggled. "Truth."

"What's one fear that you have that you've never told anyone?" Kurt asked.

"Oh…" Blaine said, leaning back against the couch.

"Oh?"

"I'm afraid I won't get into law school. I'm afraid I'll be stuck with an English major that will get me no decent job." Blaine admitted, his expression serious. "I know I laugh about it and joke about it, but in all honestly, I'm afraid it will happen and what will happen if it does."

"You'll get into law school, babe." Kurt leaned over, grasping Blaine's hand. "There is no way that you won't."

Blaine gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Kurt."

Kurt reached up, ruffling his hair. "You're welcome. Alright. Let's make this more interesting."

Blaine sat up. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Kurt said easily.

"Did you ever… you know… imagine… with Finn… when you became brothers?"

"Gross! That is gross!" Kurt exclaimed.

"But you were in love with him."

"Were. Keyword were." Kurt said, gesturing with his hands. "He's my stepbrother."

"Just answer the question."

"But he's my stepbrother!"

"Truth or dare, Kurt. You've got to answer." Blaine said, grinning.

"You're so gross, Blaine." Kurt shook his head.

"Answer. And remember, if you opt our or lie you have to answer five more truths in a row—which will be much worse."

"No, I didn't. By that time I had moved on." Kurt snapped. "There. I answered, you big pervert."

"Just curious." Blaine sing-songed. "And it's all part of the game, Kurt. It's cut throat."

"Fine. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Boring. Fine." Kurt smirked again. At least the game had moved onto bigger things. That meant he was getting Blaine where he wanted him. "Why did you get arrested?"

"You!" Blaine pointed. Either Kurt was really good at this game or it was a trap. He was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, Kurt had manipulated him into this game to get dirt on him. Wes would have been so proud of Kurt. In fact, a little voice in the back of his head said, Wes probably gave him the idea.

"Truth or dare, Blaine. You've got to answer." Kurt said sweetly.

Blaine scowled. "DUI. Truth or dare?"

"Wait, wait, DUI?" Kurt's jaw dropped. "Elaborate on that."

"Truth or dare?" Blaine repeated.

"Truth."

"Boring." Blaine said, racking his mind. "Fine, fine. Alright. Say we split up. Would you ever go out on a date with Karofsky?"

"No." Kurt said instantly. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Blaine smirked. He was not going to be tricked again. No way.

"Kicking it up a notch. Nice." Kurt moved so his legs were hanging off the side of the coffee table, kicking theme out. "Okay… I dare you to prank call—."

"Lame." Blaine snorted, interrupting him.

"Prank call David and admit your undying love for him." Kurt finished.

"He'll see right through it."

"Make it believable and he won't. Tell him it's probably because of his selfless support and his charming smile." Kurt said eagerly, grabbing Blaine's phone off of the coffee table and punching in David's number.

"What if he doesn't buy it?" Blaine questioned. "The rules say you have to hit me if I fall through on the dare, but you won't do that."

"Five truths then. We'll go with that. So you better make it convincing. I've got a lot of interesting questions for you."

Blaine let out a groan of frustration and pushed the dial button.

"Speakerphone." Kurt mouthed excitedly.

Blaine sighed and pushed it.

"Hey, David, can you talk?" Blaine asked as soon as David picked up.

"Uh, I guess, but I'm kind of with Mercedes right now."

Blaine sent Kurt a look, but Kurt motioned for him to go on. I hate you, Blaine mouthed before speaking. "It's really important."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" David asked, sounding concerned. He could hear Mercedes asking what was wrong in the background.

Blaine let out a deep sigh. "David, I've… Look, I've decided that I don't want to be with Kurt anymore."

"What?" David exclaimed.

"Yeah. He's just too much of a brat." Blaine said, grinning at Kurt's wounded face. "But… but what made me come to the realization is that… David¸ I think I'm in love with you."

"Did he just say what I think he said?" Mercedes asked.

"Shh, Mercedes! Clearly he's having a mental breakdown!" David snapped.

Owned, Blaine mouthed, giving Kurt a thumbs up.

"Look, Blaine, I know that we're close and all. You're like a brother. But we can never… you know. I'm straight." David spoke in a very calm and understanding voice.

"But are you sure?" Blaine asked, making himself sound overwhelmingly sad.

"I'm sure, Blaine." David said in his calm and soothing voice. "Have you been drinking?"

"Thanks, dude. It was Truth or Dare." Blaine said cheerfully.

"Fuck you both." David snapped before hanging up.

"Alright, Mr. Hummel. Are we ready to end this yet? You scared?"

"No, I'm not scared. Your friend is just gullible." Kurt scoffed. "Dare."

Blaine grinned. "Okay, okay. Are you sure you can handle this?"

"You don't think I can handle anything."

"Fine. I want you to give me a lap dance."

Kurt's eyes widened. "W-What?"

"You heard me." Blaine smirked.

"Oh my God." Kurt's eyes widened. "I don't think it's going to have the desired effect, Blaine."

"Oh, I'm sure it will." Blaine said, his hazel eyes bright.

"You've got low standards then." Kurt said, standing up and moving across from Blaine.

"I like this view." Blaine grinned, eyeing Kurt hungrily. And I really, really like those jeans…

"I know you like the view. You've been staring all day." Kurt smirked. "You know, it's a good thing I liked to dance to Single Ladies so much."

"Oh?" Blaine asked eagerly.

"Yeah. And it's also a good thing I was a cheerleader for a while. I'm pretty flexible." Kurt said, attempting a seductive voice and passing as far as Blaine was concerned. He bent down low, spreading his legs and touching the back of his own thighs and then very slowly moving his hands over the fronts.

Blaine's eyes widened and he watched as, a few feet in front of him, began moving his body in ways that showed everything off.

"I cannot believe you're doing this." Blaine said, too turned on to be embarrassed by how in awe he sounded. Kurt was definitely no longer on a baby penguin level when it came to sex. Not at all.

"Why? You do know I spent weeks practicing the Single Ladies dance, right?" Kurt smirked.

"Bet you don't remember how it goes." Blaine challenged, hoping that Kurt would try to prove him wrong.

"I bet you I do." Kurt's smirk widened and he began to show Blaine exactly how much he remembered, exaggerating some moves just for Blaine's entertainment.

"I've got the sexiest boyfriend in the world." Blaine said, staring with big eyes.

"Really?" Kurt asked, coming up to Blaine, spreading his legs, and standing in between them. "Well I always knew it." Blaine gasped out as Kurt bent and kissed his neck—one of the two spots that drove Blaine absolutely crazy.

"Didn't forget, did you?" Kurt asked, kissing down his neck.

Blaine tilted his head, not thinking straight enough to even answer.

Kurt turned so his back was to Blaine, causing Blaine to groan in frustration. Kurt then gently put his hands on Blaine's knees, and lowered himself until he was pressed firmly against Blaine's crotch.

"Oh God." Blaine gasped out. "You're really doing it. I didn't think you'd really do it."

"Can you not handle it, Blaine?" Kurt asked teasingly, grinding against his boyfriend and then moving his hips back and forth against him.

"Not if you expect me to be coherent within the next two minutes. Okay, you passed… a little too well for my liking too…" Blaine said, gently pushing Kurt off of him.

"Truth or dare?" Kurt asked, sitting back on the coffee table and looking pleased with himself.

"Dare."

Kurt leaned forward. "If you pick truth, I'll make it worth your while."

"Truth!"

"Blaine, you are whipped. Oh my God. What have I done to you?"

"And horny. Truth, truth, truth!" Blaine said eagerly. "Come on, come on."

"Details on the DUI."

"Got drunk, got angry, drove off, got pulled over, DUI."

"But is it on your record?"

"Nope, that's why I couldn't get my license until right before we met. C'mon, c'mon. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Are you as turned on as I am?" Blaine asked, leaning forward and eyes hungry.

"Yes. Truth or dare?"

"Dare—I mean truth, truth. Ask me anything, Kurt."

"Skinny jeans!"

Blaine leaned back, gasping again. "You!"

"What is behind skinny jeans, Blaine?" Kurt asked. "Specifically, these skinny jeans."

Blaine let out a noise that was a mixture between a whimper, a cry, and a groan—Kurt wasn't sure exactly what type of groan it was though. "This was Wes' idea, wasn't it?"

"Actually it was mine. I don't know why it took me so long to think of it." Kurt smirked. "Now, what's the story behind skinny jeans?"

"But that's so embarrassing." Blaine whined.

"You've got to answer or I'll think of five questions that are even worse." Kurt said, moving so he was sitting on Blaine's lap. "And I'm sure I'll be able to come up with five."

"Fine, fine, fine!" Blaine snapped. "Okay, okay… Let's just say I really… er… liked those skinny jeans the last time you wore them."

"When was that?"

"You've only ever wore them one time before… around me, at least." Blaine said, looking embarrassed.

"That was a long, long time ago." Kurt said. "I can't even remember it."

"Oh, I can." Blaine mumbled. "It was after you were new to Dalton. It was after your first weekend at home and you came back in wearing…" His eyes trailed down to Kurt's legs. "Those."

"Oh, really?" Kurt smirked, scooting closer to him. "What did you like?"

"What didn't I like is the better question." Blaine said, nuzzling his shoulder and kissing his neck. "There's a reason I went to the bathroom so quickly."

"O—Oh. Over me? Really?" Kurt asked, looking stunned. "Wait, you didn't go to the bathroom."

"No. I ran off before you could see me." Blaine admitted. "Which is why when I came into the room Wes and David were snickering like high school girls."

"I thought they were just being delusional like always." Kurt said thoughtfully. "If it makes you feel better, you were very well composed… you know… after you… dealt with your problem. I had no idea."

Blaine looked even more embarrassed.

"I love you." Kurt laughed, hugging him. "So that's the big story I've been trying to get out of all three of you for the better part of a year? I'm starting to think your life hasn't been as interesting as I thought."

"Eh." Was all Blaine said as he shrugged. "I've had my moments."

"Moments. Hmm." Kurt hugged him even tighter.

"Truth or dare?" Blaine asked, voice muffled by Kurt's shoulder.

"Dare. I suppose you deserve it for all your trouble two years ago." Kurt teased.

Blaine looked up, grinning. "Alright, well… I think you should give me a strip tease."

"Oh, do you?" Kurt asked, standing up and unbuttoning the vest he was wearing

"Oh, I do." Blaine said eagerly, eying him.

"That can be arranged." Kurt said, actually dropping the vest to the floor instead of folding it.

"What has gotten into us?" Blaine asked as Kurt backed away, kicking off his shoes.

"Must be the air here. Makes us horny." Kurt responded, tugging off another shirt and tossing it at Blaine.

"Hey, if we can't make it in our respective careers you can always strip." Blaine teased, grinning. "Where are you going?"

"The bedroom. Aren't you coming?" Kurt asked, undoing his belt before turning and going to the bedroom.

"Oh my God, I love Michigan." Blaine said to himself, standing up and chasing Kurt who was now completely shirtless and only down to his jeans.

"You know, I could use some help with the rest. All of those layers tired me out." Kurt said, that playful smirk still on his face.

"I can do that! I can totally do that!"

* * *

"It seems like this trip went so fast." Blaine sighed, looking around his bedroom. His and Kurt's stuff were spread around over the end tables, the chair in the corner, and on Blaine's dresser. Not to mention the fact that his bathroom had never had so much stuff in it in his entire life, but that was living with Kurt Hummel for you.

"We got to do everything you wanted, right? See everything, go everywhere?" Kurt asked from the bed, lying on his stomach with his chin rested in the palm of his hand.

"Yeah. We did." Blaine came over, plopping on the bed and draping an arm over Kurt's back.

"Are you sad to be leaving?" Kurt turned his head and looked at him.

"Yes and no." Blaine look at him as well, offering a small smile. "I'm a little sad that there's a chance I won't come back here again, but I'm eager to go home.

"Does Blaine miss Kreacher?" Kurt teased.

"God, no." Blaine scowled. "Why would I miss that stupid dog?"

"Because you love him just as much as I do." Kurt grinned. "You let him snuggle with you in the mornings when I'm getting ready to head to the garage."

"I do not." Blaine looked horrified. "I absolutely do not."

"I have photographic proof, Blaine." Kurt leaned over and grabbed his phone, flipping through pictures until he found one of Blaine fast asleep, snuggled up with Kreacher who was clearly licking his face.

"That dog is taking advantage of me when I'm asleep!" Blaine declared, pointing. "This is just another form of harassment and belittlement brought on by that thing."

"Shut up." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Just admit that you like Kreacher."

"I like that dog about as much as I like peanut butter." Blaine scoffed, pointedly looking away.

"You're lying." Kurt sang, kissing his cheek and putting his phone aside. "You love your demon puppy. Admit it, Blaine."

"I don't like the dog!" Blaine whined.

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "Okay, Blaine. I believe you."

"You should." Blaine mumbled, climbing out of bed. "I think I'm going to start packing in an attempt to wipe that horrendous accusation from my memory. Please don't talk to me unless it concerns anything apart from a certain coton de tulear."

"I think I've found a new way to get you off of your butt when you're being lazy." Kurt laughed as Blaine began folding his dirty clothes and placing them into a bag.

Blaine looked up, eyes narrowed but still bright showing that he wasn't truly angry with Kurt. "Shut up."

Kurt just rolled his eyes and got out of bed, beginning to pack the stuff on Blaine's dresser. "You know, I won't think any less of you if you admit that you like my dog. It's okay, Blaine. He's cute… Well, he's cute when we find the time to take him to the groomers."

"Next time I take him, I'm telling them to shave the mutt." Blaine muttered under his breath. "Hey, don't throw clothes at me."

"Must have missed." Kurt said, giving Blaine a sweet smile. "What was that you just said about my child?"

"He's not a child. He is an animal. And even if he were able to be your child, he'd be 14 now. A teenager!" Blaine exclaimed, tying up the bag with his dirty clothes. "A teenager!"

"I disagree. My babies will still be my babies when they're teenagers." Kurt said, moving onto the end table. "Why do we have so much stuff?"

"Because we're gay?" Blaine shrugged and then whined, "I'm tired, Kurt. Do we have to pack now? Can't we just scramble it all together tomorrow morning before we go home?"

"You're the one who wanted to pack." Kurt pointed out.

"But I don't even know what all I want to take home with me yet." Blaine sighed, sitting on the bed and looking around.

"We'll take home whatever you want to take home." Kurt came over, ruffling his hair. "I'm going to take a shower while you think it over, okay?"

"Alright." Blaine nodded, still looking around the room as Kurt left and headed into the bathroom. He stood when he heard the water start to run, making his way to his dresser and looking at everything Kurt hadn't packed—everything that was exactly how he'd left it all those years ago.

There were neat stacks of DVDs, CDs, and books. There was a journal he'd been given that had never been used but that Blaine didn't have the heart to throw away. A Dalton tie, an old cell phone he'd forgotten one year, a stuffed animal that had been given to him by a toddler he used to baby sit on weekdays while Mrs. Turner ran the day camp. In his closet was of course clothes, a guitar, a violin (he'd never really mastered playing the thing,) a box full of knickknacks that he'd accumulated since he was young during his summers, and boxes upon boxes of shoes that he had completely forgotten about.

As much as he'd often wished he could come and get his stuff, it was hard to decide what to bring now that he had the opportunity. His guitar, music and books most definitely. Apart from that… he didn't really need the rest. He hadn't had it since he was sixteen, why would he need it now that he was twenty? Why clutter their small apartment with stuff he'd forgotten about? There was just no sense in it.

He grabbed a grocery bag and opened it, placing the DVDs, CDs, and books neatly inside it and tying it tightly. By the time Kurt was finished, Blaine was going through the clothes and shoes in his closet. Determining what would fit and what he would actually ever wear—a lot of it, he had to admit, he definitely wouldn't wear now. What had he been thinking when he bought that hideous green shirt? Or those multicolored tennis shoes? And how had David let him buy them in the first place? It was probably a good thing they'd been left behind in Michigan.

"Those are hideous." Kurt said, nose scrunched up.

"They are no worse than that blue shirt with the sunglasses." Blaine said without looking up.

"Yeah, you might have a point… Blaine, I want a walk in closet." Kurt let out a dreamy sigh, sitting in the floor of Blaine's huge closet with him. "This is brilliant."

"I've always taken pride in this closet." Blaine said cheerfully, adding another pair of shoes to his Ohio pile. "It's like I'm going shopping or something."

"Hey, bring those! They're fabulous."

"I don't like them." Blaine said.

"Well bring them anyway." Kurt laughed and put them in the pile.

"This is why we have no closet space, dear." Blaine grabbed them, tossing them back into the Michigan pile. "If you could fit them, I'd let you have them. It's not my fault you've got giant feet."

"What's wrong with my big feet?"

"I quite like your big feet." Blaine said, smirking.

"Your mind is always in the gutter." Kurt sighed, standing and looking through some of Blaine's sweaters. "You have more clothes than me at your summer home. This is so not fair, Blaine."

"If you stick around for me to get my inheritance, I'll buy you as many clothes as I've got in here." Blaine laughed.

Kurt rolled his eyes, pulling out some sweaters and making a neat pile. "I wouldn't let you do that."

"Do you know how long it took me to accumulate all of these clothes? All of the pimps I had to work with?" Blaine joked.

"Nobody would pay for you. You're defective because you're short." Kurt teased.

Blaine scoffed loudly. "I take serious offense to that, Kurt. For that, you get to drive through Detroit."

"I was supposed to on the way because you hate it but you let me sleep." Kurt shrugged.

"I didn't want to wake you." Blaine stood, dramatically throwing his arms around Kurt. "It was so scary!"

Kurt slid his arms around Blaine's waist, kissing his nose. "It's okay. I'll protect you, Little Blaine."

"Just for that, I'm making you ride in the trunk."


	35. Chapter 35

** _Part One_ **

_"You make me feel like I'm living the teenage dream, the way you turn me on-."_

"Blaine, I'm trying to get ready." Kurt laughed, moving past Blaine who was trying to dance with him. "I have to be at the garage soon."

"Come on. This song is the beginning of it all, Kurt. _My heart stops when you look at me—."_

"Oh my goodness." Kurt said, letting Blaine slide one arm around his waist and lace the fingers on his free hands with Kurt's, swaying them to Katy Perry's singing. "A few seconds."

_"_ _Just one touch, now baby I believe—._ **"** Blaine sang.

"You're such a sap." Kurt moved his arms and slid them around Blaine's neck, kissing him to silence him. "I love you, honey, but I've _really_ got to go. Dad hates when I'm late and I can't afford to get another speeding ticket this week."

"Don't leave me." Blaine pouted, sticking out his lower lip. "Call in sick."

"I wish I could." Kurt sighed a bit and pressed their foreheads together. "But we need money, seeing as Kennedy's isn't giving you as many hours anymore."

"I'm so past caring." Blaine said cheerfully. "I'll find another job."

"You really have to let me go to work." Kurt gave Blaine a sad smile. "You'll see me for dinner though, right?"

"Of course I will. Do I _ever_ miss Friday Night Dinner when you work, Kurt? No." Blaine reached his hand up and stroked Kurt's cheek. "It's a rule. I don't break rules."

"Mmmh, good." Kurt kissed Blaine again and then kissed his cheek before moving away and walking to the counter. He picked up his wallet and keys. "Carole will have dinner done by six so make sure you're on time. Finn's coming. If you're not on time, you probably won't get to eat."

"I'm always on time." Blaine said, grabbing Kurt's water bottle and cell phone off of the table and then holding them out for him.

"Thanks. I'll see you for dinner, Blaine. I love you." Kurt grabbed the items and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

"I love you too. Be careful." Blaine turned and walked towards the living room singing Katy Perry loudly.

Kurt shook his head and left, making sure to lock the door behind him.

* * *

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I fell asleep. I'm on my way and should be there soon. I'll go straight on to the house instead of the garage since I'll be a little later than planned. Love you, xo.—B_

"Shit, shit, shit." Blaine mumbled, tucking his phone safely away before the light turned green. Yes, he shouldn't have been texting and driving. He normally didn't, but at least he had been at a long red light, right? Plus, he didn't want Kurt to worry.

He wasn't sure why Burt and Carole had been _extra_ insistent that Blaine and Kurt make it to Friday Night Dinner seeing as they hadn't missed one all summer bar when they were in Michigan and it was now nearing the end of summer. He had a feeling that something was going on, but he had no idea what it could have been. Kurt may not have liked surprises, but Blaine most definitely did and he was getting excited.

Blaine merged onto the highway, quietly singing along to the stereo and trying not to think about anything frustrating—namely, the new management at Kennedy's and how Blaine was pretty sure his new boss was just waiting for an opportunity to fire him. Which was ridiculous, considering Blaine worked his ass off when there and had covered countless shifts for people… the new manager included.

But he wasn't thinking about that. No. He also wasn't thinking about the fact that David was mad at Wes, putting Blaine in the middle of a heated argument which Blaine wasn't even sure what was about. Blaine _hated_ when they fought. They were his two best friends. Both, equally. He didn't like feeling pressured to choose sides. Of course Wes and David never did pressure him, but he didn't like feeling caught in the middle.

Then again, he vented to them when he and Kurt fought. It was only fair that they vent too. He just felt like it—

"What the fuck are you _doing_?" Blaine exclaimed, shocked as some woman cut him off. He let out a huge sigh of relief, thinking his car was in the clear, until the woman slammed into his driver's side door, spinning his car until it crashed forcefully against the median wall. Blaine's body jerked forward and his head smashed into the dashboard as his car made a crunching sound. _Not good_ , Blaine thought. _This is not good_.

"Oh my God." Blaine moaned, lifting his head slowly. He saw the other car spinning several times, as if it was in slow motion, before it finally stopped.

Someone ran to his passenger seat, yanking the door open. "Are you okay?"

"I—I think so." Blaine said, eyes wide. Was he really just in a wreck? He eyed the dashboard, seeing a huge dent where _his head_ had hit. His entire windshield was smashing and glass was everywhere. He even saw cuts on his arms.

"I've called an ambulance and they're on the way. Let me help you out." The person, a middle aged man, crawled into the car after moving large pieces of glass out. "Does your back hurt?

"She hit me." Blaine mumbled stupidly, since it was obvious. He needed to focus. He felt himself beginning to freak out, but that would do no good right now. He pushed everything in him that was telling him to freak out aside and focused on doing what needed to be done to get out of the car.

"Can you undo your seat belt?" The man asked, even though Blaine hadn't answered his first question. Blaine fumbled to do so, nodding. "Alright, good. Just try to scoot towards me. Be careful."

Blaine, sure he was running on adrenaline and shock because there was no way he shouldn't have been freaking out by the amount of blood dripping down his neck from his head, tried to lift his leg. It wouldn't budge, and then he felt it. Intense pain, even sharper than the pain in his head—which was pretty bad when he focused on it. He cried out, gritting his teeth. "I can't get out."

"Just stay still then. Don't move. Is your head okay?"

Blaine blinked several times and then shook his head, trying to make the car stop lurching. It wasn't moving, of course, and he knew his eyes were playing tricks on him. Shaking his head didn't help. "I don't know." He mumbled as they heard distant sirens.

Someone else rushed over. "The operator said to make sure he stays still. His neck could be broken."

"My necks not broken." Blaine sagged, laying his head on the steering wheel. He just wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. He knew he couldn't because he wanted to so bad. You were supposed to stay awake after you hit your head, at least until a doctor looked you over. He had to stay awake and then they would help him call Kurt and it would be okay.

"Talk to me. What's your name?" The man asked, shaking his shoulder. "How old are you? Are you awake?"

"Blaine." Blaine responded, sitting up so that he was no longer on the steering wheel. He swallowed hard, hoping he wasn't _really_ tasting blood like he thought he was.

"They'll be here really soon." The man said, trying to be reassuring. Blaine appreciated the gesture but really soon was doing nothing for him right now when there was so much blood coming from somewhere on his head.

Blaine heard the sirens in the distance grow closer and, within a few more outrageously long minutes, three fire trucks had pulled up.

"He can't get out!" The middle aged man yelled, getting out of the car. "He's stuck!"

A firefighter rushed over. "Are you okay?"

"I can't get out." Blaine whimpered, trying to scoot even though it was causing him excruciating pain. Not that he knew why he had the sudden urge to scoot again since it hadn't worked the first time. He wasn't thinking straight. He couldn't think much at all anymore because of the pain.

"Hold tight. Don't hurt yourself more." The firefighter crawled into the passenger seat where the other man had been. "What's your name?"

"Blaine Anderson." Blaine grunted.

"How old are you, Blaine?"

"Twenty."

"I'm Craig and the guy behind me is Neil. I'm a firefighter and he's a paramedic. We're going to get you out of here, okay? You're doing a good job. Just sit tight."

"I can't do much else." Blaine responded.

The man gave a small laugh, and for some reason it made Blaine feel a little better. Or maybe that was the simple fact that a fireman and EMT was with him. Either way, this man had done more to calm Blaine in twenty seconds than the other guy had in ten minutes.

"How are you doing, Blaine?" The paramedic asked from outside the car. "Does your neck feel okay? You've been moving it."

"It's fine, but I—I hit my head really hard." Blaine said slowly. "It's bleeding a lot."

"Head injuries do that." The man said in a calm voice.

"I'm going to let the paramedic in the front seat and I'm going to get into the back. I'm not leaving." The firefighter, Craig, said. He climbed into the backseat and a male paramedic took his spot.

"You hit your head pretty hard, huh?" The paramedic, Neil, asked as he pulled on gloves.

"My car… It slammed…" Blaine mumbled, finding that the more he sat the harder it was to focus. His head hurt and he was… he felt fuzzy. Fuzzy and too hot.

"How does your head feel? Can you see regularly?" Neil asked, leaning over him. "I'm just looking."

"Yeah, I think." Blaine cringed as he applied thick layers gauze with pressure to his head, placing tape over them. "I'm really tired."

"You've got a concussion. I need you to stay awake with me as long as you can, alright?" The paramedic asked. "I know you're tired but the longer your awake, the better off we'll be."

"Am I going to die?" Blaine asked softly.

"Not today." The paramedic said, lifting Blaine's neck gently and watching him. "That hurt?"

"No." Blaine answered.

"Your chest hurt? Can you breathe?"

"No, it's fine." Blaine said as the man put a stethoscope to his chest anyway.

The man looked down and for a minute Blaine was going to get severely crept out, until he realized the guy was looking at his leg. "Try and scoot over here for me." Neil said, holding his arms out.

_Blaine gritted his teeth and tried again, but cried out even louder. "Ow!"_

"Stop, stop, stop!" The man said hurriedly. "Your leg might be broken, Blaine. Craig, we won't be able to get him out. I'm afraid if he moves, the door will cut into his leg."

Blaine's breath hitched. He was stuck, but he'd not thought of _that. There was metal and plastic at his leg. Was his leg cut? Was he going to lose it? "Please get me out of here. Please. It hurts and I—oh my God." Blaine said, now having to shout over outside noises. He cringed, the noise causing his head to throb_. He was officially beginning to freak out.

"We're going to get you out." Craig, the firefighter, assured him. "We're going to move your car from against the wall and then we'll get you out, okay?"

"I can't-I can't—." Blaine's face screwed up in pain and he grunted. His head pounded, he felt swollen, he could barely focus but he _had_ to. He was so tired though. The adrenaline was wearing off. Quickly. He could feel it. "I can't get out, though. I'm stuck."

"That's fine, Blaine." Craig shouted over all of the noise outside, causing Blaine to wince even more. "You're doing great. We're going to get you out of here and to a doctor. Are you still doing okay?"

No.

Blaine wasn't doing okay.

His entire body ached.

His leg was… Blaine didn't want to know. He hadn't looked. It hurt. He knew it hurt. It was bad. But he couldn't look. He couldn't.

He felt worse, he felt worse by the minute, and he just couldn't focus. He felt horrible pain. What he would have given to be at a hospital, with drugs, and doctors fixing him. And he _hated_ hospitals.

"Blaine, are you with me?"

Blaine pressed his head against the window, biting his lip hard before choking out, "Yes. It just hurts really badly."

"Alright." Blaine heard fumbling. "I've got this jacket. I'm going to put it over you. We're going to have to pull the car from against the median and then we'll cut into the car to get you out. Okay?"

Kurt.

Blaine just wanted Kurt.

He was scared and Kurt would make it better.

"O-Okay." Blaine braced himself for the noise and, somehow, his car was pulled from the median in a whirlwind of sound. He cried out loudly as his leg shifted, confirmation that yes, something was wrong with his leg. It was more than just stuck. Not that he'd really needed the confirmation.

The noise only grew louder and he could feel the car jerking, but he could also feel the firefighter's hand gripping his shoulder, just like it had been when the man had first crawled into the backseat while the paramedic talked to him. Blaine decided that he really liked that fireman. He would probably be in hysterics if it wasn't for the guy. Maybe he wasn't doing much, but for some reason it just made him feel better. Safer.

"Almost there, Blaine!" The man shouted over the grinding and sirens. "You're doing great!"

And then the grinding was done and another fireman was pulling the jacket off while someone yanked the door nearest him free from his car that was literally in _pieces_.

"Good job, good job." The new firefighter said. He was joined by another paramedic.

"Does your neck hurt?"

"No. It's my leg." Blaine gasped out. "It—It's…"

Two more paramedics came over, lowering a stretcher onto the ground.

"Your leg is broken." The first EMT said uselessly because honestly Blaine had figured that out long ago even if he didn't want to believe it. "We're going to get you out of here and to a hospital, Blaine, but lifting you out is going to hurt. Are you ready?"

"Just do it." Blaine gritted his teeth as the fireman and paramedic hauled him out of the car slowly. He cried out sharply, hand immediately reaching for his leg but stopped by the paramedic. They eased him onto the bed and Blaine cried out again as they did something—he didn't know what—to his leg. His head pounded like never before and he could feel blood trickling into his mouth. And then his hand, it hurt so badly. Now that he was out of the car, closer to safety, he began to lose focus. Lose it even more, rather. His grip on reality was gone and he was slipping into head space, wanting nothing more than to give in to the overwhelming exhaustion his body was suddenly feeling.

"What's your parent's phone number?" A police officer asked, bending down.

"My—My phone it's… in the… in my pocket." Blaine said, finding it much harder to focus. Everything felt fuzzy and he just couldn't… he didn't even know. He didn't feel right. That was the only way to explain it. He didn't feel **right**.

The officer grabbed it and Blaine couldn't even feel awkward or embarrassed. He was in too much pain. And too disoriented.

"Kurt."

"Is that your dad?" The man asked.

"No, no, c-call Kurt. Please call him. Not my… Not…" Blaine felt his eyes closing and he tried to fight it but that wasn't working very well for him.

"Buddy, I need you to stay awake." Someone said sharply, shaking his shoulder.

"Blaine? Blaine, I need to call your parents." Another voice said.

"Kurt." Blaine repeated. _Focus._ He had to focus. It was very important that they get Kurt because he needed Kurt. He needed Kurt right now because Kurt would make it better. Kurt made it better. He needed it to be better. "Please l-let me call him."

"We'll call, Blaine. You're going to be just fine. We're going to get you in an ambulance and we'll have your parents meet us there." This was the fireman—the nice one, Craig. Blaine liked Craig a lot.

"No. L-Let me. H-He'll freak out." Blaine said, well aware that his voice came out much higher than usual. It didn't sound like him… and what had they just put in his arm?

"I need to call your mom or dad." The police man said, bending closer to hear Blaine. "Is their number in here?"

"No." Blaine shook his head, but that only made everything even fuzzier and he had to stop. He licked his lips and repeated, "No."

"He hit his head hard. We really need to get him down there, officer." Craig said. "We don't have time. Just call the Kurt guy. Maybe he'll have the number"

The officer nodded, moving away with Blaine's phone to a quieter area.

"Alright, Blaine. Are you still with me?" Craig asked, bending so Blaine could see him.

_"Kurt."_ Blaine repeated, wincing when something on the stretched was locked into place beneath him.

"The police officer is calling him right now. The paramedics are going to get you to the hospital and they're going to fix you up, alright? Do you understand?"

"I don't need an ambulance." Blaine said stupidly, wondering why he had even said that. Of course he needed an ambulance. What, was he going to drive himself? At least the driver's seat was intact. Maybe he'd just scoot. Yeah, right.

"Even if you refuse, we've gotta do it. You're in too bad of shape." Craig said calmly, not sounding annoyed. "Is there anything in your car you need? We've got your wallet."

"Please, Kurt. I n-need Kurt." Blaine let out a sob that he didn't even know was there as tears filled his eyes. The shock of the whole situation was beginning to hit him as his head spun. He felt _bad._ He wa _s hurt._ He was seriously hurt. He didn't want to be at the hospital alone. He didn't have parents, he just had Kurt. He didn't want to be there all alone. He hated hospitals. He was scared. Really, really scared. "Can I call—I-Kurt…"

"He'll meet us at the hospital." The police officer walked up. "I just talked to him. He's on his way."

"Blaine, we're going to get you in the ambulance now. It'll take us about five minutes to get you there." An EMT said gently. "Are you allergic to any medicines? Blaine?"

Anything else past 'he's on his way' didn't even register in Blaine's mind, because by that point he gave into his body's demands and let himself shut down.

* * *

_Blaine is in the hospital._

It took ages to process. Blaine? In the hospital?

_His_ Blaine in the hospital?

If this was how Blaine had felt hearing Kurt was in the hospital, or how Blaine had felt when taking Kurt to the hospital a few months before, then Kurt had some serious apologizing to do. His heart seemed to drop to his stomach, his blood ran cold, and he had to steady his hand to keep from dropping the phone.

"W-What?" he asked.

He had heard wrong. Of course he had. Because there was no logical reason for his boyfriend to be in the hospital. He wasn't sick. He hadn't been sick since last year when he'd had Strep. So Kurt didn't understand. Blaine had been 100% fine earlier that morning, cheerful as ever and singing Katy Perry a little too dramatically at the top of his lungs.

"This is the most frequent used number in his phone and he insisted we call you. You do know Blaine? Blaine Anderson, the ID says." A man's gruff voice said.

"Y-yes." Kurt's voice came out a squeak and he stared across the garage at his father with wide eyes. "He's my… he's my boyfriend."

"Listen, we need to get in touch with his parents. There was no number for a Mom or Dad in the phone and—."

"They don't—they—oh my God. Is he okay? Where is he?"

"He had an accident on the highway in Dayton. He's being taken to Good Samaritan Hospital." The voice said. "I really need to get into touch with his parents, sir."

"They haven't spoken to him in months. They won't come. I-I'm on my way. Is he okay?"

"I can't get into that over the phone, sir."

Kurt hung up and dashed out of the office, hands shaking and heart pounding. "Blaine's in the hospital!"

Burt looked up from a Ford Focus he was working on, looking confused. "What?"

"H-He got in a wreck a-and the guy said—he was a police officer—and he—his parents—."

"Kurt, you're not making any sense." Burt said very calmly, coming forward.

"It doesn't matter! I have to go to the hospital! He was on his way _**here**_ for dinner! This is all my fault! This is—just—I have to go." Kurt ran back into the office, grabbing his keys and wallet. "I have to go."

"Wait, Kurt, wait!" Burt said, following him. "I'm taking you. You're not driving like this."

"Please hurry." Kurt whimpered, all but running to his car and getting into the passenger seat. He watched his father say something to Jeff, who looked concerned and nodded after glancing at Kurt. Within a minute Burt was getting into the car, reaching for Kurt's keys.

"Where is he at?"

"Good Samaritan in Dayton." Kurt said quickly as his dad backed out of the parking lot. He'd been repeating that in his head ever since the police officer had said it. They had to get there, had to get there _now_. "Oh God, oh my God. He wasn't even the one to call, Dad. What if he's dead? They wouldn't tell me anything."

That hadn't occurred to him. _What if he was dead?_

"Oh my God, oh my God." Kurt echoed, eyes wide. "What if he's dead?"

"He's not dead." Burt said firmly. "You can't go jumping to conclusions, kiddo. You need to calm down until we know more."

"I don't know what to do. What if he's dead?" Kurt repeated.

"Blaine is not dead." Burt said slowly. "Now I'm going to get there as fast as I can. We won't know what we need to do until we get there, okay? They might not let us see him."

"Why wouldn't they let us see him?" Kurt asked sharply.

"Because you're not related to him. Some hospitals are different than others. Now do you know where his insurance stuff is? Do you have his brother's phone number?"

"In his wallet, I don't know!" Kurt exclaimed, feeling like everything was closing in on him. He was beginning to freak out. The biggest of freak outs. "Why w-would I know where that is?"

"Calm down." Burt said. "Getting yourself worked up will only make this worse. You have no need to freak out until we get there and know what's wrong. He may just need a ride home."

"If he needed a ride home he would have called himself." Kurt moaned, rubbing his face.

"Call Carole and tell her where we're going. She'll want to come." His father said very calmly. "You need to try and think if you know where any of his insurance stuff would be just in case he doesn't have it in his wallet, although he probably does. Now I've got enough money on my card if we need to pay anything, alright? And as soon as we find out what's going on and that everything is okay, I'll call Jeff and we'll find out where his car his and I'll get it sent to my shop."

"I don't care about the car." Kurt whimpered. "I just want him to be okay."

"He's okay, kiddo. He's okay."

…

"What do you mean, you can't tell me anything?" Kurt asked sharply. "His family _doesn't speak to him **.**_ They don't care about him. _They are not going to come._ He needs someone back there with him. _Me and his two best friends are all he has. **"**_

"Sir, it's hospital policy. We cannot give out information on patients without their permission and Mr. Anderson is in no—."

"Is in no what?" Kurt asked. "Why can't I see him? He would want me back there. Where is he? What's going on? And the other guy said is that he might have to have surgery. I want someone to start explaining!"

"Kurt, you've got to calm down." Burt hissed.

"No! Blaine is back there and I want to see him!" Kurt hissed right back. "His parents don't give _two shits_ about him. The closest thing he has to family The only family member who does is his brother."

"Then we need to get in contact with his brother."

" _He lives in Italy_!" Kurt exclaimed.

The receptionist stared at him, clearly not believing him.

"You can't tell us anything?" Burt asked calmly.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's hospital policy." The woman said, glancing at Kurt who was near tears.

"Bud, we're just going to have to call Alex." Burt sighed, moving away from the window and bringing Kurt with him.

"Why won't they just _tell_ me what's wrong?" Kurt exclaimed.

"I don't know, Kurt." His father sighed again.

"Fine." Kurt stormed out into the hallway. He had Alex's phone number from the previous winter when he was organizing Blaine's trip to Michigan for his Christmas present, and it was a good thing he had kept it apparently.

He pushed the call button, sliding to the floor and closing his eyes tightly. The phone rang seven times before it went to his automated voice mail. Kurt sat patiently through the message and, at the beep, began to speak.

"Hi, Alex. This is Kurt. I'm calling from my cell phone so if you can, please call me back. It's about Blaine. He's been in a car accident. I don't know exactly how bad he is because they won't let me see him yet." Kurt tried to keep himself from crying, but he couldn't stop the sniffles. "I don't want to scare you but I think it's bad. All they said is he might have to have emergency surgery and… and that they would only talk to you or his parents… I just thought you should know, and I have no idea what to do… If you want to call me… well… please call me back."

Kurt took a deep breath after he hung up, trying to calm himself down.

He knew Blaine was alive.

He knew it wasn't serious enough that Blaine had been rushed into surgery upon arriving, but it was serious enough that he still might have to go into surgery.

That was about all he _did_ know though. First of all, the doctors had only very briefly talked to him. They had understood, though, that Blaine's parents would be of no help. Despite the fact that they understood, they still wouldn't _tell him anything_. Kurt didn't know if they hadn't given him information because they didn't have it or because he wasn't family. He didn't know which he'd prefer, either. Neither one was ideal.

Two minutes passed before his phone rang.

"Kurt?" He heard Blaine's brother ask sharply. "What's going on? Is he okay?"

"They—They haven't told me. They keep asking for your parents."

"No. Don't get them involved." Alex said instantly. "What have they said?"

"It's bad, but I don't know how bad. They won't tell me what's going on." Kurt said anxiously. "They may have to do surgery, but they'll only talk to family."

" _Fuck_." Alex said, sounding almost as anxious as Kurt felt. "Listen, I'm going to call the hospital and try to talk to them. What hospital are you at?"

"Good Samaritan in Dayton." Kurt said, feeling relieved. "Thank you."

"No problem, Kurt. I'm going to call them, so I'll call you right back. Keep your phone right by you, okay?"

"Thank you so much. Bye." Kurt hung up, going back into the waiting room and sitting in the corner.

Burt, who had been pacing, came over. "What'd he say, kiddo?"

"Alex is calling them." Kurt whispered, staring down at his phone and waiting for the call back. "He said he'd call."

"They'll probably tell him what's going on over the phone." Burt sat in the chair next to him.

"It's taking a long time."

"You just got off of the phone with him." Burt pointed out. "They'll have to put him through to the right person and I'm sure the doctor will go into detail."

"I guess." Kurt fell silent and remained that way for an entire fifteen minutes until his phone rang. "Alex?"

"Hey, Kurt. I talked to them." Alex said, sounding rushed. "I'm going to catch a flight out there. He's stable right now, but it's pretty bad. I talked to the highest up person there and I've given them permission to talk to you and your family about what's going on. Until I get there, you're going to be in charge of any decision. He—He's… He can't make them himself. He's unconscious and he's yet to wake up."

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut. "Is it… Is it bad?"

"He's stable. That's what's important. Look, I have to go and get a flight. A doctor was leaving his office to talk to you as I hung up. I'll be there as soon as I can and I'll text you flight details and stuff."

"But—Is there—If anything happens, what—."

"If anything serious happens, I fully believe that you would know what Blaine would want done. I trust you." Alex said. "Take care of him until I get there, Kurt."

"Bye." Kurt said softly, hanging up.

…

"Hi, sorry it took me so long to get here." A young woman said, coming up twenty minutes later. "Are you here with Blaine Anderson?"

Kurt nodded, wondering why this woman was so young. There was _no way_ she was Blaine's doctor. She barely looked old enough to be in med school.

"Blaine's doctor is a little tied up right now, so she sent me. I'm her assistant for the day."

So she was a medical student. Why the hell was a medical student about to talk to Kurt?

"That's fine." Burt said, looking a bit confused himself. "Can you tell us what's going on? Is Blaine alright?"

"We're concerned with a few things right now. He's been unconscious for a few hours. He was conscious when the paramedics got to him but he kept losing consciousness in the ambulance and he's yet to wake up. He hit his head _very_ hard. It doesn't look as though his skull is fractured but there is some swelling, which has the doctors worried."

"But he's not in a coma?" Burt asked.

Kurt stared ahead as his father spoke, eyes wide and hardly comprehending everything that was going on around him. Brain swelling? That sounded worse than serious? It didn't _look_ as if his skull was fractured? Shouldn't she, as a medical professional, know for _sure_ before speaking to his family?

"No. He's not in a coma. I don't think it's that serious of a head injury but sometimes things do come up."

_I don't think_ **?** She didn't _think_ **?**

This just couldn't be real.

Kurt was the one that ended up in the hospital, not Blaine.

Not his Blaine, who had been perfectly fine that morning and had been singing Teenage Dream at the top of his lungs while Kurt had left for work at the garage.

"His breathing is doing okay. We've had to put him on Oxygen a few times, but for right now he's doing fine there. We're… we're very worried about his leg. It was broken in the crash and what we're dealing with right now is trying to determine if it can be fixed without surgery." The girl continued, talking more to Burt than Kurt. "We have him as comfortable as he can be while we wait for a specialist to make it to check on his leg."

"How long will that be?" Burt asked.

"Well the on duty specialist is performing a surgery right now. We've gotten in touch with the on call specialist. Whichever is here sooner will be with him right away. We… We aren't sure how serious this is yet, to be honest. We don't know if and when he'll wake up."

" _If_?" Kurt swallowed hard, finally reaching his breaking point with this girl. She clearly didn't know what she was talking about, she was contradicting herself, and it was _not_ the time. Kurt was not the person to mess with. Not right now. "Y-You just said h-he wasn't in…"

He felt Burt squeeze his shoulder.

"He should have woken up by now." The nurse said calmly. "We aren't sure why he hasn't."

"Isn't that your job? To k-know why he isn't w-waking up?"

"Kurt…" Burt said quietly.

"Well can I see him?"

"Not yet. He's too unstable. I'm sorry."

"But you just said he was breathing. He was fine, but unconscious. Everything you're saying to me doesn't make sense! You keep contradicting yourself!" Kurt exclaimed. "Either you don't know what you're talking about or you're lying to me about what's going on! And I don't want you working on him either way! And why are you so calm?"

"Kurt, stop." Burt said in a gruff voice.

"I just want to know if he's going to be okay. _My_ definition of okay. Not 'Oh, well, he was breathing when he got here!'"

"Thank you, ma'am." Burt said to the girl hastily.

"I'll have a doctor come out and talk to you soon." She said before rushing off, looking uncomfortable.

"You can't just say things like that to the people taking care of him." Burt said, turning and steering him towards the waiting room.

"That wasn't even a doctor! This is a joke!" Kurt suddenly burst into tears. " _I want to see him_!"

"I know, kid. I know." Burt sat Kurt down, kissing the top of his head. "It's going to be okay, Kurt. It's going to be alright."

"T-T-They won't even tell me if he's okay! I don't think they even know!"

"They're just humans, Kurt. They're not miracle workers."

Kurt hugged himself, almost wishing Alex _hadn't_ told the doctors to clue him in.

"We're just going to have to wait it out, kiddo. Soon a _doctor_ will come and they'll know more than that nurse anyway." Burt sat in the seat by Kurt.

"I d-don't know w-what to do." Kurt sobbed.

"There's nothing you can do, Kurt. We just have to wait." Burt said, looking up when both Carole and Finn rushed into the room, Carole carrying Melody.

"What have they said?" Carole asked.

Kurt just pulled his feet onto the chair and buried his head in his knees.

"Oh my God." Carole gasped. "No."

"No, no." Burt stood and led her to the other corner of the room. "Some med student came out and scared him. I don't think she knew what she was talking about completely… but whatever it is, it sounds serious."

"It was a car accident?" Carole asked, glancing over at Kurt who had his face buried in Finn's shoulder. Finn was patting Kurt's back, looking worried.

"We drove past the car, Carole. It's… It wasn't good. They had to cut into it, it looked like. The driver's side was slammed into the median. Someone hit him _hard_."

"Oh my God." Carole repeated as Melody began to squirm and whine. "Shh, Mellie, shh."

"Dada!" she demanded. "Dada! Dada!"

Burt took her. "Shh, Melody. We have to be quiet."

"No!"

Carole went over, sitting next to Kurt. "Come here, hon."

Kurt leaned over, burying his face in her chest and starting to loudly cry.

"He'll be fine." Carole whispered, rocking him. "He is going to be just fine, sweetie."

"I'm s-scared." He whimpered.

"Me too, but he'll be just fine." Carole reassured him.

A doctor—a real one— came over to them. "Blaine Anderson?"

"Yes." Burt said, nodding.

Kurt sat right up, wiping his eyes.

"And his family won't be coming? Someone spoke with his brother about giving out information to 'only Kurt and his family' and he said he was on his way."

"No." Kurt sniffled. "His brother lives in Italy. It will take him a while."

"Kurt?" the doctor asked.

Kurt nodded.

"Would you like to see him?"

"Y-yes." Kurt stood shakily.

"One other person can come if they'd like, but we don't want more than two at a time." The doctor said, glancing at everyone else.

"Carole, you should go. You're closer to Blaine." Burt said, nodding in the direction of the door. "Finn and I will go back separately with Kurt after."

"Kurt, hon, do you want me to go back?" Carole asked, standing also.

"Please." Kurt whispered, walking towards the exit without even waiting for the doctor.

"I'm sorry that the other doctor wasn't very clear with you all. She's fairly new to the whole thing. He's not in any sort of coma right now, but he's remained unconscious for the last several hours. He was conscious when he was picked up from the scene, but the paramedics said he kept going in and out once he was removed from the car. He's got a pretty serious head injury. There are some aspects we won't know until he wakes up, though. His skull is not fractured but there is mild swelling—not a whole lot, but enough to have him under very close surveillance until it goes down.."

"B-but he will wake up?" Kurt sniffled.

" _At this point in time_ , I would say yes." The doctor said, very slowly. "With head injuries, though, you have to understand that a whole lot can happen in a very short amount of time. I'm worried that his condition may change for the worse, but if he stays the way he is now, I think he'll wake up."

"And when he does wake up?" Carole asked.

"We'll know a lot more judging by reflexes and his speech. We'll run tests to make sure there is no brain damage and figure out where to go from there." The doctor answered. "He did hit his head hard, so there may be some memory loss. When they were getting him on the ambulance, though, he knew who he was, he told them where his phone was, told them Kurt's name. So hopefully that won't be something we have to worry about. But if it happens… then we'll work on it."

"But if he was fine then… why isn't he now?" Carole asked.

"Sometimes adrenaline can mask the pain of an injury." The doctor explained. "Also, people don't always fall unconscious right away. It's possible the brain swelling got worse after he passed out. There are a number of things that can and do contribute to loss of consciousness and concussions. The important thing now is to get and keep the swelling down and to keep him comfortable."

"Is… Is he…" Kurt trailed off. "Is he for sure going to… be okay?"

"He's not out of the woods yet." The doctor spoke very gently to him. "But we're going to do everything in our power to make sure he wakes up."

"And… And if he wakes up… will he be okay then?" Kurt felt like a little scared child, but he couldn't help it.

"I can't guarantee that until he wakes up and I see how he's doing, but most likely."

"You said he has other injuries?" Carole asked.

"His leg is broken. We're currently waiting for a specialist to see if he needs surgery or not. The one on duty is in the middle of a procedure, but we have an on call specialist on the way. It will either be a simple surgical procedure, or we'll reset his bone and put it in a cast. His wrist is sprained. He's pretty banged up. It was a pretty serious car accident, so there is some swelling, some cuts, and some bruises. They'll go away with time. He's pretty banged up."

"But he'll be okay?" Kurt whispered, looking in a window as they came to a stop outside of a room. His face screwed up and he didn't wait for an answer, but rushed into the room.

An older nurse who looked very friendly was hooking Blaine up to a monitor.

Kurt had never seen Blaine look as small as he did on that hospital bed, face slightly swollen and bruised. There were even some tiny cuts on his neck and collar bone, probably from glass.

"We're keeping him as comfortable as we can until he wakes up." The nurse said in a soft voice. "He's not in pain."

Kurt nodded, taking a deep and steadying breath. He felt dizzy. Dizzy and scared. He couldn't breathe. This just wasn't happening. All he could think of were the pointless arguments over nothing, all of the times he'd thrown stuff in Blaine's face, all of the times he'd taken his sweet, loving boyfriend for granted. And how, at that moment in time, he would have given _anything_ just for Blaine to open his eyes.

"You can hold his hand if you want." The nurse said, lowering the white blanket past his chest instead folding it back over so that only Blaine's stomach and legs were covered.

"It won't h-hurt him?"

"That one is sprained. Come over on this side. I'll get you a chair, honey." The nurse said, moving to a corner of the room.

Kurt made his way very cautiously, making sure to not trip over any cords, and gently lifted Blaine's hand. He watched Blaine's face for any sign of pain, or anything really, but his expression didn't change. Had he thought the touch of Kurt's hand would rouse Blaine? No, not really. But he might have been hoping a little all the same. "Are you sure… he can't…?"

"He can't feel anything right now." The nurse assured him.

Kurt's lip began to tremble and he looked away from Blaine's swollen face, unable to stare at the bruises any more. He felt a hand on his back and fought the urge to cry.

"That's good, Kurt." Carole said softly. "He's not in pain."

"H-he's not anything then, is he?" Kurt choked.

"Oh, honey." Carole said. "The doctors are going to do everything they can."

Kurt leaned over Blaine, pressing his own trembling lips to his forehead. "You're going to be okay, Blaine. I'm right here. I'm not going to leave."

Both Kurt and Carole looked up as another doctor came in.

"Well, let's look and see." She said in a rushed voice.

Carole quickly moved out of her way.

"You two are fine." The nurse said, giving them a reassuring smile. Carole moved back to her spot by the bed next to Kurt, squeezing her stepson's shoulder.

Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand, nodding his silent thanks. He felt like he was in a daze, staring down at Blaine's scraped fingers, but Carole's presence made everything so much easier to handle. He had never been more thankful for her in his life.

The doctor went over to a lighted box, surveying the x-rays silently for several long minutes. "He's going to have quite a recovery ahead of him. If it had been any worse, he would have needed surgery. I think just a cast will be fine for him, though. I'll go on and set the bones now, and you can have him wheeled down for a cast."

"Alright." The first doctor who had originally brought them in nodded. "We can just get his head scans after we're done with that."

"Can I stay with him?" Kurt asked, his voice hopeful. Now that he was with Blaine he really didn't want to leave him.

"When they set the bones, yes. You can't be in the room when they do the scans but you can wait in the next room with the doctor overseeing it and then walk him to the room back here with us."

Kurt felt a sense of relief wash over him. He was going to be with Blaine, even if during the scan he wasn't in the room. The doctors were letting him be involved; he wasn't being kept in the dark anymore.

"I'll set his bones right now and then he can be wheeled down for his cast and the scans." The specialist said.

"After that, we'll monitor him until there are any changes." The other doctor added. "It's just going to be a waiting game to see how it goes."

While Kurt hated waiting, he would take anything over not knowing if Blaine was even alive. With that in mind, he simply nodded and gripped Blaine's hand tightly, refusing to let go even if the grip wasn't returned.

* * *

Waiting.

Hours and hours of waiting.

With no change whatsoever.

They said Blaine was stable and comfortable. His condition hadn't gotten worse and that fact was something to be thankful for, but Blaine's condition also hadn't gotten better. Kurt didn't like that so much and, he thought to himself, he'd be thankful when Blaine _**woke up**_. When his condition improved and he wasn't on monitors. So many monitors and Kurt had no idea what they were doing.

Kurt looked around the room. Burt and Carole were sitting in chairs in the corner of the room, Melody asleep against Burt's chest and Carole's head on his shoulder. Tall Finn was curled up in another chair asleep—the sight was something that would have greatly amused Kurt if the situation with Blaine hadn't been so serious. He would have to remember to describe it to Blaine. Or maybe Blaine would wake up and get to see it for himself.

"What time is it?" Carole asked, sitting up.

"About four in the morning." Burt responded after raising his hand and looking at his watch. He then looked to Kurt, who stared at Blaine helplessly waiting for _any_ response.

And then, finally, after eleven agonizing hours, he got it.

Blaine let out a small whine, his fingers flexing in Kurt's hand, and then rasped, "Kurt?"

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, standing and moving closer to Blaine. Carole sat up straight and Burt stood, passing Melody to her. "Blaine, can you hear me?"

Blaine let out a pained noise, raising his other hand up and covering his eyes. Even though his eyes were closed, the light was still hurting them.

"I turned it off. The light is off, Blaine. Please, open your eyes." He heard Kurt saying, voice tense.

"Kurt?"

"Shh, it's me."

" _Ow_." Blaine let out the pained noise again, balling his fist.

"Shh, shh, it's okay."

"I'll go get a doctor." Burt said and Blaine heard receding footsteps before a door closed.

"It's okay, Blaine. Shh. Shh." Kurt said, voice shaky and sniffly. "You're going to be okay."

Blaine forced his eyes open in time to see Kurt kissing his forehead. Well, it was really just a blurry mass but he was sure it was Kurt. "What's wrong? A-Are you okay, Kurt?"

"Oh my God, I love you so much. I love you so much." Kurt said over and over, relief washing over him. Blaine was awake. _Awake_ _._ "Blaine, I love you. I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine closed his eyes, feeling an overwhelming need to sleep. Sleep for forever, or at least until he didn't hurt. Why did he hurt? Wasn't he on medicine? If Burt was getting a doctor, he must have been at a hospital. So why wasn't he on medicine? Or was it that bad? God, he was so tired and thinking made it worse…

"No, Blaine. _No_. Look at me. Blaine?" Kurt asked. He let out a tiny sob. "Please, Blaine."

Blaine forced his eyes open, _only_ because Kurt asked him to, and he saw bright dots and colors everywhere. "It's all bl-blurry." Blaine said slowly.

"Just look at me. Please." Kurt whimpered. "Don't go back to sleep. Then the doctor can… can make sure… Please, Blaine, I need you to stay awake."

"Not going to sleep." Blaine said, lifting his hand and then hissing.

"B-Be still. Don't hurt yourself." Kurt said, very gently easing Blaine's hand down.

"Kurt, I'm so tired." Blaine whispered, his lip beginning to tremble. "Can I please sleep?"

"No, no, no. It's very important that you stay w-with me."

"But I… It hurts." Blaine swallowed hard. "And it's so hard."

"It's okay, sweetie." Kurt, who was by now silently crying, gently wiped the tears from Blaine's eyes. "I was s-so afraid I'd never see you again, Blaine… Blaine? Are you awake?"

"My h-head hurts." Blaine said after an agonizingly long few seconds.

"It's okay, babe. It's okay." Kurt reassured him, trying as hard as he could to _not_ sound like he was crying. He wiped more tears off of Blaine's face and reached over, grabbing a wet washcloth that a nurse had been using and wiping some blood off of his face. "It's okay, Blaine."

Blaine closed his eyes, almost seeming calmed by the washcloth.

"It's okay." Kurt repeated, his voice firmer as he continued, desperate to calm his scared boyfriend. If he was this upset, he could only imagine how scared Blaine was. "You're fine."

Blaine took a deep breath and shuddered, lip still quivering.

"Shh, shh. You're just fine. I'm right here." Kurt soothed, setting the washcloth aside and rubbing Blaine's shoulder. "I'm right here. It's okay."

Blaine shuddered again and let out a soft whine. Kurt wanted to hug him, to kiss him, to throw himself over Blaine's chest and sob—with relief, with dread, he wasn't sure what with exactly. All he knew was that when Blaine's eyes opened, it was like… like everything was okay, everything was right.

Kurt didn't look away from Blaine until the door opened and Blaine's friendly doctor came in.

"Good afternoon, sweetie. How are we feeling?" she asked, smiling warmly at Blaine. The only response she got was a grunt. "Can you open your eyes for me, sweetheart?"

Blaine scrunched his face up as if expecting pain and then slowly opened his eyes.

The doctor smiled. "You've got lovely eyes, Blaine. Why don't you keep them open for me while I check you over, okay? Do you know where you are?"

"Hospital." Blaine mumbled.

"Excellent. Do you remember getting here? Or why you're here?"

Blaine shook his head and let his eyes fall on Kurt, who hadn't left his side.

"Good. How are you feeling, sweetie? How's your head?"

"It's all fuzzy." Blaine said, voice beginning to slur. "Everything's blurry."

"Stay with me, honey." The doctor said, voice rising a bit. "I need you to stay awake for me, sweetie. Just long enough for me to check you over and then I'll let you rest."

Blaine's eyes shut.

"Are you awake, Blaine?" The lady questioned.

"Mhmm."

"Do you remember what happened?"

"No." Blaine said, voice just under a whisper.

"Honey, if you don't talk up I'm going to have to make you sit up. You can't go to sleep yet." The doctor said. "I need to make sure you're okay to sleep."

"I'm okay to sleep." Blaine mumbled, raising his arm and putting it over his face. Kurt would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. Blaine, talking back to an adult? It was bizarre.

"Can you help me sit him up?" The doctor asked Kurt.

"But… I… yeah." Kurt nodded and bent over. "Sorry, sweetie."

Blaine made a noncommittal noise as Kurt sat him up. Kurt leaned him against the pillows and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Blaine forced his eyes open and blinked at Kurt. His eyes were threatening to close but he tried as hard as he could to keep them open, to stay awake for Kurt. Only for Kurt because he really wanted to sleep, but Kurt sounded worried and Kurt shouldn't worry…

"I need you to tell me how you feel, Blaine. Are you in any pain?" The doctor asked, watching his eyes carefully. She held a small flashlight near his face but he closed his eyes instantly. "I know you're tired but I need you to cooperate with me, Blaine. It will go by faster that way."

"I just want Kurt." Blaine whimpered, ignoring her questions completely.

"I'm right here." Kurt said, sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing his hand. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? I'm not leaving this room until you do. Okay, honey?"

Blaine swallowed hard and nodded, unshed tears in his eyes. "My head hurts."

The doctor scribbled something down on her clipboard and nodded at Kurt.

"Anything else, babe? Your leg?"

"Not as bad as my head."

"Anything else?"

"I hurt all over." Blaine said, a few tears spilling over.

"Honey, do you remember why you're here?" The doctor asked, voice gentle.

"N-No." Blaine's lip started to tremble as more tears fell. Why didn't he remember? Why was he here? "I'm scared."

"You don't have to be scared." She said kindly, patting his hand. "You're going to be just fine, alright? Calm down and take a deep breath."

Blaine closed his eyes, inhaling deeply and then letting out a long breath. He had to admit, it did wonders for his nerves. Or maybe that was Kurt stroking his arm. Either way, he felt better. Less closed in.

"Good job." The doctor smiled. "Are we a little calmer?"

Blaine nodded, opening his eyes again.

"Okay, I'm going to shine this light by your eye. I tried to a minute ago but you wouldn't let me, so be real still for me."

Blaine sat very still, resisting the urge to look down at his hand when Kurt stroked his open palm. He wanted sleep and he would get it when the woman was done.

"Only his left eye is dilating." She said to a nearby nurse. The nurse immediately grabbed the clipboard and began writing. "Do you feel dizzy, Blaine?"

"I don't know. Everything is blurry, so it's hard to tell." Blaine said, becoming nervous again.

"Any trouble breathing?"

"No." Blaine took another deep breath and felt Kurt stroking the back of his hand now. He leaned over to be closer to Kurt, but didn't realize quite how far away Kurt was. He swayed slightly and Kurt bent down, leaning him back against the center of the bed and kissing him gently. "I love you."

"I love you too." Kurt said, sniffling. "So much, Blaine."

"I'm just going to take a listen and then I'll let you lay back down." The nurse said, moving so she could listen to his breathing after giving them their moment. "Now, Blaine, what is the last thing you remember before waking up?"

"We… Went to…" Blaine said slowly, looking confused. "We went to bed. We watched… uh…" He raised his hand to the back of his head and winced. "Gypsy."

"That was last night. Well, the night before technically." Kurt said, attempting to smile but not quite succeeding. Seeing Blaine this way was hurting his heart in ways he thought it would never hurt. All he wanted to do was take his boyfriend home, lay him down, and snuggle him until everything was better.

"Good!" The doctor said, sounding cheerful and relieved. "Alright, honey. You were in a really bad car accident yesterday afternoon about ten or eleven hours ago. A jeep hit your car so hard that yours turned and your driver's side slammed into the median wall. Do you remember?"

Blaine immediately turned to Kurt, eyes wide with fear. "Oh my God. Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

Kurt leaned over, kissing the top of his head several times. "I-I'm fine."

"Are you crying?"

"Blaine, I'm fine." Kurt's voice came out even more choked this time. How could Blaine be worried about _him_? Even if Kurt had been in the car, clearly he was okay if he was with Blaine. He really had the sweetest man alive.

"You were the only one in the car, Blaine." The doctor said and she smiled when he let out a relieved sigh, eyes not leaving Kurt. "You had to be cut out of the car. Do you remember that? A fireman got into the back seat. He put a jacket over you. They pulled the car away from the wall and had to cut into it to get you out because of your leg. The fireman had to help get you out because you couldn't crawl out."

"I don't remember." Blaine swallowed. How could he not remember this? "My leg?"

"Your leg is broken. It's been set and you've got a cast on. You'll have it on for quite some time. You'll probably have to do some physical therapy too." The doctor answered. "You were awake and aware of what was going on during the car accident and before you got in the ambulance."

"Ambulance?" Blaine echoed. Weren't those expensive? He didn't have that much in his savings. How would he pay for that bill? At least he had health insurance.

"Right now you're suffering from amnesia. You'll probably remember within the next 24 hours." The doctor said quietly. "Now, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"It's all blurry still. I don't know. Am I going to be able to see again?"

"You should be able to see again normally within the next little bit." The doctor answered.

"I can't remember anything." Blaine whimpered, rubbing his head frustratedly and trying to _make_ himself remember. But, true to his words, the last thing he could remember was falling asleep the night before—well, what was the night before to him. This was worse than when he couldn't remember stuff from being drunk. That was scary, but this was scary on a whole other level. "Why can't I remember?

"That's okay, Blaine." The doctor said. "You hit your head really hard. There's some swelling and you were unconscious for nearly eleven hours. We were worried about you."

"I'm sorry." Blaine said, looking in Kurt's direction again.

"Shh, don't apologize." Kurt said gently, pressing more kisses to the top of his head. "Don't worry about me, Blaine. I'm fine. Let's focus on you, okay?"

"Blaine, your other hand is sprained but I want you to squeeze my hand with your right one. Squeeze it as tight as you can."

Blaine did as told, wondering when he was going to get to lay down like he'd been promised. He was feeling pretty jipped at this point.

"Good!" The doctor sounded genuinely pleased. "That's very good! Now I want you to wiggle your toes on your broken leg, okay?"

Blaine did as told again, feeling ridiculous.

"Now I'm going to put my hand against your other foot and you're going to push my hand as hard as you can, okay?"

"I'm a soccer player." Blaine mumbled. "That might be too much."

The doctor laughed a bit and pressed her hand against Blaine's foot as he did so. "Good job."

Blaine covered his face with his good arm, exhausted.

"Kurt's going to help you lay down now. If you want, I'll have some food sent up. I bet you're starving." The doctor said.

"'m not hungry." Blaine said tiredly as Kurt gently laid him down. His good hand gripped Kurt's sleeve tightly and he refused to let go. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, babe." Kurt said, stroking his hair back gently as the doctor left.

"You're doing good, bud." Burt said, coming over and patting Blaine's shoulder.

"Mmhi." Blaine's eyes closed.

"Just get some rest, sweetheart." Kurt kissed his forehead.

"Don't leave me." Blaine mumbled sleepily.

"I won't. I promise."

Blaine closed his eyes, too tired and too in pain to hold them open any longer.

* * *

Kurt couldn't sleep.

It didn't matter that the doctor said Blaine was going to be fine now that he woke up.

For one, Blaine had been so disoriented. If Blaine woke up in the middle of the night, Kurt needed to be there. _Right_ there. Not asleep. For two, what if he _wasn't_ fine? What if something happened with the swelling and he stopped breathing and nobody was there to get a doctor? What if Blaine woke up wanting him and he was asleep? _Anything_ could happen.

Besides, Kurt couldn't sleep anyway. He couldn't get the image of Blaine's crushed and cut up BMW out of his head. He couldn't help but see Blaine's confused and pleading eyes as the doctor asked him questions he couldn't answer. Couldn't help but think of how he'd felt, not knowing if Blaine was even alive for over and hour and then spending another hour battling doctors for information on him.

He had a feeling he wouldn't be sleeping for a while. He almost wished Carole, Burt, and Finn were still there. Finn could only stay a while because he had to go back to OSU for training and it just wasn't necessary for Burt and Carole to keep Melody in a hospital room overnight when the doctor said Blaine would be okay.

Blaine moaned and whimpered, head nuzzling his pillow. Kurt inched forward, just in case he was waking up, and laced their fingers together. Blaine gave a small smile, his fingers relaxing. "Kurt?"

"Hey there." Kurt whispered, leaning over him and turning off an overhead lamp that sat on a counter.

Blaine's eyelids twitched a bit and then he slowly opened his eyes, hesitantly as if he was afraid it would hurt. He blinked several times and then smiled, speaking in a soft voice. "I can see you normally."

"Good." Kurt let out a very relieved sigh.

Blaine rested his head back against the pillows and took another deep breath. "You've been crying."

"No." Kurt lied, shaking his head.

"Aww, Kurt." Blaine said, smiling a bit. "I'm okay."

"No you're not." Kurt whispered, leaning down and brushing back some of Blaine's hair.

"I've got you. I will be." Blaine reached up, touching Kurt's cheek.

"I was so, so, so scared I would never see you like this again." Kurt said, tears filling his eyes for the millionth time since Friday afternoon when he got that call.

"Kurt, shh." Blaine said, struggling to sit up. "Help me up."

"You n-need rest." Kurt said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "Ignore me."

"Help me up." Blaine repeated.

Kurt let out a resigned sigh and put his hands under Blaine's arms, helping him into a sitting position. When Blaine was rested comfortably against the pillows, Kurt surveyed him with teary eyes. "Do you—Do you remember the accident?"

"Not yet." Blaine said softly.

Kurt let out a shaky breath as more tears fell. "Are you in pain?"

Blaine hesitated.

"Don't lie."

"Yeah." Blaine finally said, nodding just enough so that it was noticeable.

"Let me get you a doctor." Kurt wiped his eyes.

"Kurt, I don't want a doctor. It's not that bad. I just… just want you to sit with me."

Kurt sat on the edge of the bed, lips trembling. Blaine was too calm. It had to have been the medicine he was already on because Blaine absolutely _hated_ doctors. That, or he was just too exhausted and in pain to care.

"Kurt…" Blaine said, raising his arm and gently tugging Kurt's head down. "I love you."

"I love you too, Blaine." Kurt choked out. "Please be okay. I don't know what I'll do if you're not."

"The doctor said I'll be fine, babe. I'm going to be okay."

"You could barely see!" Kurt exclaimed in a hushed whisper, careful not to hurt Blaine's already aching head.

"I can see now." Blaine said softly.

"T-They wouldn't even tell me if y-you were alive, Blaine. T-They wouldn't tell me _anything_." Kurt said, tears spilling over. "I thought you were dead. We p-passed that car and I thought 'Oh, God. I hope that person is okay. I hope Blaine's accident wasn't like this' and t-then I saw the l-license plate a-a-and…"

Blaine moved aside slowly and guided Kurt in the bed next to him. Kurt's head went to his chest and he started to cry, balling the t-shirt that Carole had bought for Blaine to wear in his hands (because there was no way he was wearing an itchy hospital gown if he could get out of it).

"I t-thought I'd lost y-you, Blaine. A-And I don't understand why y-you're not _freaking **out**_ because I am and I don't even hate hospitals like you."

"Because I'm way too drugged to think straight." Blaine joked. "Kurt, c'mon. I'm okay."

"I j-just don't want you to be hurting. I-I wi-wish you hadn't been c-coming to dinner in Lima. T-This is my fault."

"Hey, now." Blaine said. "No. The person that hit me is the one at fault. Never you."

"I'm just… don't…" Kurt rambled, after regaining his composure. "I was so scared a-and… I'm so glad you're awake, Blaine. I thought you were _dead_."

"All the black clothes you'd have to wear were that terrifying?" Blaine joked.

"No. I was more concerned with being a single parent." Kurt teased, offering the first real smile that he had all day.

"We have a child?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Kreacher."

"I was hoping that was a side effect from the accident. A real baby would have been easier to tolerate." Blaine let out a heavy sigh.

Kurt gently smacked his arm, staring at him. "You've got beautiful eyes, you know?"

"What is it about hospital lighting that makes you say that? This is the second time." Blaine laughed, resting his head on Kurt's shoulder.

"I think it all the time." Kurt admitted.

Blaine smiled and linked their hands together, scooting close. "Vicodin is pretty freaking awesome, Kurt."

"Good night, Blaine." Kurt laughed as Blaine let out a soft snore.

**_Part Two_**

"No, I promise I'm fine… There's no point in you guys coming up. They're only letting Kurt and his family in…" Blaine was saying into Kurt's cell phone the next morning when Kurt came into the room, two plates in his hand. He looked up, smiling a bit even though he definitely didn't feel well enough to be smiling.

"Why are they only letting Kurt and his family back?" David asked, sounding confused.

"I don't know… Alex had to get them to let them do _that_ and he's not even here yet."

Blaine knew that he _should_ have told David and Wes to just come, but honestly he had enough people flocking to him already. He felt _bad_ that people kept coming to see him. Besides, he knew exactly how David would be. When you got David into what he and Wes called Big Brother Mode, there was really no getting him out of it. Blaine wasn't mentally prepared to handle both David _and_ Kurt worrying over him. Not to mention Carole, who would be there later and would spend the evening fussing over him as well.

Although, he had to admit that it was nice. The last time he'd been in the hospital with injuries this serious… well, his parents hadn't been very nice to him, to say the least. Then again, they blamed the entire thing _on_ him and just saw it as a waste of money. It was kind of… well, nice to be in the hospital and have people around that genuinely cared about him. Maybe he secretly did want David and Wes there, but he also didn't want them driving all the way out to Dayton just to make him feel better. Blaine would be fine without them there. Even if seeing his best friends would have taken his mind off of the pain—because it was Wes and David, after all.

"Yeah, Kurt told me last night that he was on the way. When is he supposed to make it?" David asked, interrupting Blaine's thoughts.

"This afternoon." Blaine answered, although he wasn't quite sure that was right. Flight availability had already changed three times so Blaine was kind of tuning the Alex stuff out until someone told him Alex was in the state of Ohio. It was easier that way.

Kurt set their plates down on the small table in the corner and gently sat on the edge of the bed, pushing Blaine's hair back and kissing his forehead. After he pulled away, he whispered quietly, "Do you want your plate now?"

Blaine nodded, listening to David ramble on about how he and Wes could at least sit in the waiting room until they let visitors back if it came to that, because they _wanted_ to be there.

"No, David, it's fine. Really." Blaine said, giving Kurt another small smile when he sat his plate on his lap. "I'm kind of tired and really sore anyway. I wouldn't be very interesting…"

"I know, but we want to be there." David said again. "Both Wes and I."

"I want you two to be here too but there's point in you sitting in a waiting room for who knows how long." Blaine sighed a bit and took a bite of his mashed potatoes, feeling more and more tired the longer he stayed on the phone with David.

"So _you're_ not up to visitors or they say you're not?" David asked, maintaining a quieter than normal voice so as to not hurt Blaine's still pounding head.

"It's both." Blaine said, scooting slightly when Kurt sat on the edge of the bed. If David thought he wasn't up to visitors, he was less likely to drive all the way out there. "I'm just really tired and sore… and the medicine knocks me out as soon as they give it to me."

David sighed a bit. "Is Kurt back yet?"

"Mhmm, he just got back with my food." Blaine answered, voice starting to slur. Blaine had taken to growing very tired when talking too much while on his painkillers and it almost always responded in his voice slurring. That, Kurt knew, was when it was time to end conversation and let Blaine rest. Evidently David knew this too.

"Can I talk to him?" David asked.

"Yeah." Blaine said, shrugging although David couldn't see him. He would have liked to have blamed that on the fact that he was on painkillers but, in all honesty, he did that in even his healthiest of moments. Sometimes he relied too heavily on gesturing in conversations.

"Alright. Get some rest, Blaine. I'll talk to you later today or in the morning tomorrow." David said.

"Thanks. I will. Bye." Blaine said, holding the phone out to Kurt.

Kurt took the phone, kissing Blaine's cheek once again (he couldn't help but be extra affectionate when Blaine was so pitiful and in the hospital), and held it to his ear. "Hello, David."

"Hey, Kurt." David said. "How's the swelling? Has it gone down any since last night when we talked?"

"No." Kurt sighed a bit as Blaine slowly ate his mashed potatoes, leaning back against his pillows. Much of Kurt's night had been spent on his cell phone with Alex, David, and Wes concerning Blaine's condition. He had probably talked to Wes and David over the phone and text in the last several hours more than he'd ever talked to them in his entire life. "They're going to try him on some new medicine later today and they think that might help."

"They said he can't have visitors?"

"Actually, the opposite." Kurt said, trying to not go into details because Blaine could clearly hear every word he said. He didn't quite understand why Blaine _didn't_ want Wes and David there. But then again, he remembered his first stay in the hospital. He'd been very tired and hadn't wanted anyone there but Blaine and his dad. Of course the situations were different, but maybe Kurt understood a little better than he had previously thought.

"So he's trying the whole 'I don't want to be a burden' thing?" David asked, laughing a bit. "I figured. It was taken him a while to come up with those responses."

_Of course_ , Kurt thought. Blaine was feeling better. Of course he simply didn't want his friends going out of their way to see him. That almost hurt Kurt's heart. He knew Blaine was doing okay, but he also knew that David and Wes would have made Blaine feel much more at ease. He knew that Blaine _needed_ them there just as much as he needed Kurt, now that he thought about it.

"Sounds about right." Kurt said quietly.

"Okay. I'm picking up Wes and we'll be there in a bit. Text me the room number." David said.

"Okay. I'm going to get off of here because he's about to fall asleep with the spoon in his mouth. I'll let you know if anything happens." Kurt said in an effort to keep Blaine in the dark.

"You're good at this, Kurt. I'm surprised." David said, sounding impressed. "See you in a bit."

"Bye." Kurt hung up.

"'m not falling 'sleep." Blaine whined when Kurt came over, forcing his eyes open.

"Yes, honey, you are." Kurt said, taking the bowl of mashed potatoes from him and moving it back onto the table.

"I don't know why I'm sleeping so much." Blaine mumbled tiredly, leaning against Kurt when he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Because your body needs rest so it can heal." Kurt said, wrapping his arm around Blaine. He gently guided Blaine's head down until it was rested on Kurt's chest.

"They're really changing my medicine?" Blaine asked, voice muffled by Kurt's chest.

"Adding something to it. It should help with your headaches." Kurt whispered.

"I feel crappy enough with what I'm already on." Blaine sighed, frowning. "I really hate hospitals, Kurt."

"The medicine should help." Kurt said, rubbing his arm. "Try to get some sleep and maybe you'll feel better in the morning."

"I don't think I will." Blaine let out another sigh, this one smaller, and then nuzzled Kurt's shoulder. "Has Alex actually called you back yet?"

"No. We've sent texts back and forth though. He was about to board a flight when I talked to him last. He's trying to get here as soon as he can." Kurt leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Blaine's cheek.

"I almost feel like him coming is a waste because I'm not _that_ bad off."

"Blaine, you've got brain swelling that isn't going down, a broken leg, a sprained wrist, and a serious concussion. You also still can't even remember your car accident. If that isn't bad off, I don't want to know what you're definition is." Kurt said very slowly.

"Well, when you say it like _that_ …" Blaine said, biting his lip. "That makes it sound bad."

Kurt rolled his eyes and kissed Blaine gently. "You ate some _and_ talked to David. I think you deserve a nap, don't you?"

"Mhmm, I'd really like one actually." Blaine nuzzled him again. "Will you wake me if Carole and Melody come?"

"Yes." Kurt smiled a bit. "Of course, Blaine. I don't think they'll be here for a while though."

"That's okay." Blaine balled some of Kurt's shirt in his hand and, within seconds, was asleep. Kurt picked his phone up and gently eased himself off of the bed, resting Blaine against the pillows. His boyfriend whined for a few moments before his face relaxed and he began to let out the quiet snores that Kurt knew well.

He unlocked his phone, went into his contacts, and scrolled until he found Blaine's older brother's phone number. He clicked on Alex's name and sat quietly until the older man picked up.

"Hey, Kurt. I was just about to call you." Alex said.

"Hey." Kurt said quietly. He looked at Blaine, who was fast asleep, and crept into the bathroom of the hospital room so he was less likely to wake Blaine. "You landed?"

"About forty minutes ago. I've been talking to these idiots at the desk about getting tickets to Ohio. The closest I could get is extremely northern Michigan. I'm not having much luck. I can't rent a car because apparently I _just can't_." Alex said, sounding annoyed. "So I'm stuck in an airport until they can find somewhere for me. The next flight near you guys is in six hours but they can't even guarantee me a seat, much less how the hell I'll get there once I land since I _just can't_ rent a car." Alex sighed. "How is he doing? Is he still holding up okay since your last text?"

"He's been sleeping a lot, but he's been really easy to wake up. Well, they're waking him up every two hours just to make sure he doesn't… you know." Kurt said, unable to finish that statement. "He's in a lot of pain but the doctor is confident that he'll be alright."

Alex let out a relieved sigh. "Okay, good. Does that mean everything is good, then?"

"Not quite." Kurt sighed. "The brain swelling hasn't gone down yet. When he first woke up he couldn't even see but now he can normally, which they say is a really good sign… I already told you about how they didn't have to do surgery on his leg so he's got a cast on and it probably will be for a while… But the main thing is the swelling in his brain."

"Are they keeping him drugged at least? To help with the pain?"

"He doesn't like to be on medicine very much so he's not letting them do as much as they could. Medicine tends to upset his stomach…" Kurt whispered. "But he's sleeping through most of the pain anyway."

"It probably hurts too much to be awake." Alex sighed again, but this one didn't sound relieved. "I wish I could get there sooner. The doctors laid off on calling Mom and Dad, right?"

"Yes. They want to talk to you about something though… They won't tell me and they don't want to stress Blaine out. I don't know what it is, though…" Kurt trailed off.

"I don't know. If I can make this flight that's in six hours, I should be there by dinner time and then we'll both find out… I feel better, though, knowing that he's awake and everything. Did he say anything about the accident? Whose fault was it?" Alex asked.

"He actually doesn't remember Friday at all yet but he should soon." Kurt said.

"Blaine doesn't even remember Friday at all? It was a really bad car accident, wasn't it?" Alex asked. "Fuck."

"Yes. It was really bad… But the police officer said that it was the woman's fault. She was driving recklessly. They'd had several calls about her. Not long before the accident she had been going ninety five miles an hour. If she had when she hit Blaine's car…" Kurt trailed off again, unable to finish his sentence. Trying to not even finish the _thought_. Yes, Blaine was doing badly. But it could have been much worse. Blaine could have not made it out of the car alive.

Alex was quiet for a long moment before going, "Was she arrested?"

"No. She probably will be, though… As soon as she's out of here, that is. She was admitted too. I don't know. They've mostly talked about that stuff with Dad because they don't want to in front of Blaine and I haven't really left his side. They don't want to stress him out more than he already it. I don't know if you've picked up on it, but Blaine can stress like no other…"

"Have they said… I mean… with the swelling… will there be long term effects?"

Even talking about it was causing Kurt to become more stressed out, but he could only imagine how Alex had felt. If the roles had been swapped, he knew that texts just wouldn't have covered everything that he would have wanted to know. Blaine was Alex's little brother. For however little of a relationship they had before, it was very evident that Alex had been trying to make up for it for over a year. Kurt knew he must have been scared—and he also knew that Alex must have really cared for Blaine, seeing as he'd been catching planes in an attempt to get to Dayton solely to see him.

"It's at the point where the swelling shouldn't get worse… His memory seems in tact because the only thing he can't remember is Friday… They're saying there shouldn't really be long lasting effects, as far as they can tell. He'll have migraines for a while but they should go away with time. He'll probably need physical therapy with his foot though. After the therapy, his foot should work fine. I guess, right now, the biggest worry is what's going to happen after he gets home. How we're going to do school and work with him unable to drive. I just don't even know…" Kurt trailed off, becoming more stressed out as he spoke.

When he was talking to Blaine, keeping him occupied, it was easy to not think of this stuff. He was just trying to keep Blaine at ease. Now, though, Blaine wasn't right there. Blaine was asleep, and it forced him to think of how serious it really was and how he still had no idea what to do after they got back from the hospital. He and Blaine lived alone. Blaine's school was hours away. Kurt had to work to pay rent. So what was going to happen?

Now that the word was that Blaine _would_ get better, those issues kept popping into his mind. How was Blaine going to keep going to school? What would they do about a job? Luckily their apartment was on the lowest floor of their building, so at least he didn't have to worry about _that_. And physical therapy? That was expensive. Of course, they would _have_ to do it. Blaine needed his leg to properly heal. They had no choice. Even if Blaine didn't want to, Kurt would make him. Kurt worked at the garage. So, what would happen when Blaine went home? Of course Blaine _could_ hang out at the garage, but Kurt doubted he would like that very much. Carole worked on weekdays, so that option was out. Who would take care of Blaine when he was still too sore to move about himself while Kurt worked?

There was so much to figure out. How on Earth had Blaine dealt with this almost two years ago? He had been so much younger and probably under even more stress than Kurt.

Forget feeling bad.

Kurt needed to buy Blaine his cat. Actually, Blaine deserved cats and monkeys and hedgehogs and anything else he had _ever_ asked for if he'd put Blaine through _half_ as much as this.

"Alright." Alex sighed a bit. "Look, my battery is running low so I better go in case you need to get in touch with me or vice versa. I'll text you and let you know if I'm able to get on that flight. If _anything_ happens, let me know. And if I'm on a flight, text me and I'll get it as soon as I'm off of the plane."

"Okay. Hopefully we'll see you soon."

"Bye, Kurt."

"Bye."

* * *

"Hey, Blaine." David said quietly later that day, leaning down when Blaine blinked at them sleepily. "How are you doing?"

"'Sup, Blainers?" Wes asked, leaning down also.

Blaine stared at them for several seconds and Kurt, Wes, and David exchanged looks. Kurt thought he remembered everything before the accident. And Blaine had _definitely_ talked to David on the phone less than two hours ago and knew he who was. What was going on? Had Blaine gotten worse?

"Mmmhey." Blaine finally said, stretching and rubbing his eyes with his good hand. "I thought I told you guys not to come."

"If you did that on purpose, Blaine, you are _such_ an asshole." David laughed, referring to Blaine's blank stare.

"So are you for not listening to me." Blaine shrugged and yawned, then blinked up at them with sleepy hazel eyes. "I'm shocked you two are standing here together and not killing each other."

"Look at you, bringing us together. Something you can put on your resume." Wes grinned, draping an arm around David's neck. "It's all because of you, Blainers!"

"You've got to stop calling me that." Blaine moaned, covering his eyes with the crook of his arm.

"How are you feeling, Blaine? In all seriousness?" Wes asked, letting his arm drop.

"'m sore." Blaine admitted, lowering his own arm. "And I can't remember the accident… which might be a good thing considering the condition I'm in."

"You'll feel better when you're rested up." David said, his voice still quiet so he wouldn't hurt Blaine's head any more than it was already hurting.

"The drugs are getting most of it for me anyway." Blaine yawned again and then looked at Kurt, waving his hand a bit. He then smiled and said teasingly, "You knew they were coming didn't you? Why did you let them do this? Now they're in Big Brother Mode. The last time this happened I didn't have a Wes and David free moment for weeks."

"Because I know you need them here too." Kurt said instantly. "I can tell."

"Awww, Blaine loves us." Wes cooed. He went to pinch Blaine's cheek but took note of the bruises and cuts and instead settled for ruffling his dark curls. "We love Blaine too!"

Blaine rolled his eyes but it was very obvious that their mere presence had made him feel better.

"You look better that I thought you would." David said, sounding relieved.

"He looked worse last night. He's definitely doing a bit better." Kurt said, watching Wes gesture wildly while he talked animatedly to Blaine, who was watching him intently and even smiling— _really_ smiling, not that forced one that was done in an effort to comfort Kurt.

By the time Blaine's doctor came in, Kurt and David were sat on chairs that were pulled up next to the bed and Wes was sitting Indian style on the foot of the bed.

"This puppy is so loud, guys. And Sarah—that's my little sister, Kurt— she's like, ' _You have to use your inside voice, puppy! That way everyone can hear you_! Wes said, laughing loudly. "Mom has no idea why she says it."

"But you do." David rolled his eyes, not even noticing the doctor.

"She likes to get really loud. _Really_ loud. So I've been telling her that people can't hear what she says unless she uses her inside voice." Wes snickered.

"Well _somebody_ is popular, Blaine." Blaine's doctor said, laughing.

David began laughing loudly when Wes almost toppled out of the bed. Kurt snorted while Blaine just shook his head.

The doctor waited until Wes was safely off of the bed and seated before going next to Blaine. "You certainly look like you feel a bit better."

"Laughter is the best medicine." David said charmingly.

Blaine rolled his eyes and then said, "I feel alright."

"Alright is better than the grunts that I've been getting. I'll take it." She said cheerfully, surveying him. "You've even got more color in your face. We may have to have your friends stay until you leave."

"Don't put the idea in their heads." Blaine said very seriously. "They get Big Brother Syndrome easily."

"Oh no." She laughed a bit and listened to his breathing. "I have a feeling you don't mind that much."

Blaine shrugged when she pulled away, because in all honesty he didn't at all.

"Okay. Your scan came back and we were right. The swelling hasn't gone down." She said, more seriously. David and Wes instantly fell silent, paying very close attention. Kurt, who had already been paying close attention to her, sat up even straighter. "I've got some medicine here. Now you need to take it with food, so I'm going to set the cup here. Lunch should be around in an hour."

"Say he wants food that isn't from here…" Wes said slowly when she was done speaking.

"I heard nothing you said." She said, leaving the room quickly.

"That was a yes." Wes grinned.

"Oh, thank God." Blaine said. "This food is _so nasty_."

"I'll go get you some real food." Wes said. "What will be your poison? Tacos, chicken, hamburger, sub?"

"Oh my God, really? You're really not joking? Are you joking? I love you so much, Wes." Blaine gasped. "I really, really hope you aren't joking."

"I'm not that mean." Wes laughed.

"Just the first thing you see. If it gets me away from Surprise Meat, I'll take it. You are the best. _The best_."

"I told you that was meatloaf." Kurt laughed.

"That didn't taste like any meatloaf _I've_ ever tasted." Blaine scoffed, making David laugh.

"Alright. I'll be back." Wes grabbed his keys off of a table he'd set them on. "Does anyone else want anything?"

"No, thanks." Kurt shrugged.

"Come on. You've been eating hospital food." Wes said.

"I'm fine."

"Take him with you." Blaine said.

"I'm not leaving." Kurt said stubbornly.

"Just to get food. You'll go crazy sitting in here. Trust me, I know." Blaine said. "You don't want to leave but you'll feel better if you do."

"No. I don't think I will." Kurt said slowly. "I don't want to leave you."

"It's just on the corner, Kurt. We'll go fast." Wes said, grabbing Kurt's wrist and pulling him up. "I'll return with your lover mostly unscathed, Blainers."

"Don't call me Blainers." Blaine whimpered as Wes tugged Kurt out, giving the smaller boy no opportunity to even begin to protest.

…

"I know you must be shocked that David and I actually keep our cars neat unlike your boyfriend." Wes laughed as he got into his black Lexus.

"Just a bit." Kurt admitted, carefully climbing in as well. He was reminded of the first time he ever got into Blaine's expensive BMW—making sure to open the door slowly, not to hit anything, not to close the door too hard. He tried to not think about the fact that Blaine's car was in a junkyard by now probably.

"How's he really doing, Kurt?"

"He's in more pain than he's letting on… They can't get the brain swelling to go down… His brother should be making it into town today. Dad's heading to the airport waiting incase the plane gets there early… I really think he just wants to feel helpful and doesn't know what to do." Kurt said. "I'll be glad for Alex to get here because I… I don't know what I'm doing."

"You're doing an _amazing_ job. The last time I saw Blaine in a hospital he was a nervous wreck." Wes said, more serious than Kurt had ever seen him.

"It's the medicine."

"I'd say ¼ of it is the medicine." Wes glanced at Kurt. "And ¾ is you."

Kurt took a deep breath.

"We're glad he has you. I don't know if we've ever outright said it. I just don't like to talk about serious stuff that much in general. Ruins my reputation, you know?"

Kurt couldn't help but smile a bit at that.

"But we are really glad he has you, Kurt. When he met you things were okay but before that… he was pretty… hopeless and depressed. He hated himself. Then it was okay… but now, with you… he's _happy_."

"I want him to be happy." Kurt said softly.

"I know." Wes nodded, pulling out of the huge parking garage. "We do too. And he is happy with you. You even calm him down when it comes to hospitals. Kudos to you, my friend."

Kurt laughed a bit, having to admit that Blaine had been right about getting out of that hospital for a few minutes. Even being in a car made him feel a tad better than being stuck in that hospital. That didn't change the fact that he wanted to be with Blaine, though.

"Try not to worry. I'm sure the swelling go down soon. I'm sure you're both worrying about what happens when school starts but everyone will come together and figure out what to do to get him to school. He's got more people than he thinks. We'll get everything squared away for him." Wes continued.

"Thanks, Wes." Kurt said, letting out a sigh of relief that he didn't even know he'd been holding.

"It's no problem." Wes said, pulling into the parking lot of a Subway. "Don't make me force you to go in and get food. I know you're probably starving."

"I left my wallet—."

Wes looked at him and actually laughed. "It's very obvious you've never been the person at the hospital _with_ someone before, Kurt. I'm paying. You can pay me back when the woman who is _lucky_ enough to marry me—."

Kurt snorted at this.

" _Shut up_. When the woman who is lucky enough to marry me bears my child and refuses to let me leave to get _real_ food. You can bring me some food then to pay me back for getting you food now!" Wes finished, not even looking offended. "Deal, Kurtsie?"

"Deal, I guess." Kurt shrugged and got out of the car with Wes. "Hey! You can't call me Kurtsie, Wes!"

"I can't call Blaine Blainers, I can't call you Kurtsie, and I can't call David Daviel. What, do you people expect me to call you by your _names_?"

"I don't know… that might be a start." Kurt said sweetly, carefully closing Wes' car door.

"Oh my God, Kurt. If there were someone more perfect for Blaine than you, I think I would probably die from shock." Wes shook his head, approaching the restaurant and muttering, "Sarcastic assholes. Their children are going to be horrible."

"What was that?" Kurt asked, smirking.

"I said your children are going to be horrible. They're going to be sassy, sarcastic and confident at an annoyingly alarming rate, my friend… and most of it will probably come from _you_." Wes responded teasingly. "I knew letting Blaine date you was a bad idea. David and I may have to rethink this."

"He wouldn't listen to you two even if you tried." Kurt teased back. "I can give him something you can't."

Wes turned to stare at Kurt, jaw dropped. Finally he spoke. "All of my respect in the world goes to you, Kurt. All of it."

* * *

Blaine had been fine. He really had been, until he'd eaten and taken his medicine. The first twenty minutes after finishing his sandwich had been spent with the four chatting about almost anything that would take Blaine's mind off of being stuck at the hospital. Kurt would chat about how Blaine clearly loved Kreacher, David talked about how his sister had eloped with a mobster (Kurt still wasn't sure if he was joking or not), and Wes told countless stories about his little sister, who _had_ to be the most mischievous little girl on the face of the entire planet.

It had been going like that, at least, until Blaine had began to feel sick. It happened in an instant. He had been laughing quietly and then his laugh had stopped abruptly and he had grabbed Kurt's wrist, an unmistakable look of pain on his face.

"Blaine, what's wrong? Blaine?" Kurt had asked worriedly, coming closer while David left to find a doctor.

He was fine though, the doctor who was not his usual doctor said. He was just having a "small reaction" to the medicine. Tons of people had it, it would pass, and they should just not worry.

But ten seconds turned into ten minutes and by that point Blaine was crouch over, clutching his stomach and making noises that sent daggers through Kurt, Wes, and David's hearts. Blaine was clearly not okay, at least by their standards. It didn't take a medical degree to see that.

"He was fine ten minutes ago." David said, biting his lip.

"Are you sure we shouldn't get the doctor again?" Wes asked anxiously.

"The other one already said it's because of the medicine." David sighed.

"I don't feel good." Blaine whimpered pitifully.

"I can try to find _his_ doctor." Wes said.

"I know, I know." David said calmly as Kurt stroked Blaine's hair back.

"It really hurts." Blaine moaned, trying to curl up.

"Is it just your head still?" David asked, sounding alarmed. "C'mon, Blaine. Talk to us."

"My stomach." Blaine whined, tears filling his eyes. "It really hurts, David."

"It's okay, Blaine." Kurt whispered sadly. "She said it would pass soon."

"I want it to pass now!" Blaine curled more, as best as he could given his cast making things difficult, and his lip started to tremble.

"Don't you dare do that, Blaine." David pleaded. "Don't.

"I'm hurting and I'll cry if I want to!" Blaine whimpered, tears making their way down his face.

Kurt leaned down, rubbing his back and kissing the side of his face. "It's okay, it's okay. Shh, honey."

Blaine sat up, leaning over the bed and beginning to throw up.

"Get someone, Wes." David said sharply, moving out of the way.

"This—isn't—fair!" Blaine moaned, sitting up. " _Why does my life suck_?"

He did not remain sitting up for very long, though. He almost immediately leaned over, beginning to vomit with renewed force. David stood, looking anxiously at the door for Wes to come back with his doctor. Several long moments passed before Blaine finally stopped throwing up. David had seen Blaine throw up several times in the past, but he'd never seen anything like that. He was now beyond worried. Something wasn't right.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked worriedly, still rubbing his back.

"Blaine?" David asked a bit louder, shaking his shoulder.

Blaine moaned a bit, swaying.

"Fuck." David said, easing Blaine up. "Don't you dare get sicker on us, Blaine. You're supposed to get better, not worse."

"I don't feel good." Blaine whimpered, sounding absolutely pitiful. He leaned heavily against David, cheek smooshed against David's ribcage.

"I know, I know." David eased him back into a laying position. "Where the _fuck_ is Wes with a doctor?"

"I just w-w-wanna go home." Blaine cried. "Please, Kurt. Take me home."

"Blaine, I can't." Kurt whispered, feeling like the meanest person alive. How did you tell Blaine no when he was crying like that? He _was_ the meanest person alive. "You can't leave until you're feeling good enough to leave."

"I just want to go home!" Blaine said, a little more forcefully. "I hate hospitals and medicine!"

The door opened and Wes came in, followed closely by Blaine's doctor. Wes went into the bathroom, coming back with three towels and began to clean the vomit off of the floor as the doctor questioned Blaine, attempting to calm him despite the fact that he was being extremely grumpy and uncooperative.

After Wes was done and had washed his hands, he saw a nurse putting medicine into his IV and Blaine's eyes drooping shut.

"Thanks." Kurt whispered when Wes came to stand next to him and David.

"Hopefully by the time he wakes up the effects will have worn off." The doctor sighed. "It usually makes people nauseous but not quite _that_ much."

"Medicine upsets his stomach." David said quietly. "That's why he hates being sick."

"With any luck, he'll wake up feeling better and the swelling will be down." The doctor looked down, writing something on her chart. "He should be asleep for at least three hours, but if anything happens just push that button and someone will be right in. I'll have someone check on him in about half an hour."

"Thank you." Kurt said again, his eyes not having left Blaine who was gripping his hand tightly. The tear stains on his cheeks broke Kurt's heart. All he wanted to do was fine the girl that had been recklessly driving and give her a piece of his mind—and maybe his fist, depending on how mad he got when yelling. Then again, Kurt was not one for violence. He was so angry, though. The entire situation… none of it was even Blaine's fault. Blaine was probably the most careful driver Kurt had met in his entire life. Kurt was the one that sped, the one that cut in front of cars a little too close, the one that slammed his breaks just as regularly as he gradually slowed down on certain days of the week. So how had Blaine been the one to end up in a horrible car accident? How was that even fair?

"I'm not leaving until he wakes up and I know he's okay." David said as soon as the doctor left, voice leaving no room for argument. "Even if I have to sit out in the waiting room and you text me what's going on. I'm not leaving this hospital until he's okay."

"Me neither." Wes agreed, very seriously. "He was fine when we got here and I thought he was doing alright but now I'm worried."

Kurt pulled a seat up by the bed. Blaine whimpered when Kurt let his hand go and continued to do so until Kurt had scooted right up to him and squeezed his hand. "I can't believe this. I'm still in shock."

"Blaine doesn't have the best luck in the world." David said. "And that's putting it lightly."

"She said he would be fine." Wes pulled another chair up, sitting down and making himself comfortable. "He'll be alright. I still don't feel comfortable leaving until I see proof, though."

"I know everyone keeps _saying_ that he'll be fine, but the swelling still hasn't gone down. That has to be serious. It's _brain swelling_. I just don't know what we're going to do." Kurt said. "How did Blaine even deal with this stuff when he was younger? How did he just… know what needed to be done?"

"When you were in the hospital and he took a semester off?" David asked.

"Yes." Kurt nodded.

"He didn't have a _clue_ what he was doing." David said quietly, shrugging. "He was freaking out… he just knew that he wanted to do what was best for you and he wanted to be _with_ you so he knew you were being taken care of properly. After that I think he just… took it one step at a time. But, Kurt, there's nothing you can do right now. It's in the doctor's hands."

Kurt let out a heavy sigh, trying to calm his nerves. Blaine was asleep; he was okay. The doctor said it was just a bad reaction, that the vomiting was as bad as the reaction would get, and that he was going to be okay. So there was no need to worry about it. Right?

He couldn't help it though. It was _Blaine_. His Blaine. He didn't like Blaine hurting. He just wanted to take Blaine home and let him sleep until everything felt better. Until his concussion was gone, his leg was healed, his wrist didn't hurt, and he wasn't throwing up buckets because of medicine that was supposedly going to _help_ him.

But no.

He couldn't freaking do that.

Because Blaine had to stay in a hospital that made him uncomfortable and nervous.

It _killed_ Kurt. It really did.

Of all the cars on that stupid highway, the woman had to plow into Blaine's. The one person who had gone through enough bad stuff to last three or four lifetimes.

"It will be okay, Kurt." David said very calmly, sensing Kurt's frustrations. "He'll get to leave soon and then he'll be able to feel better. Don't worry about anything past that yet until it comes up or you'll worry yourself sick. The last thing he needs is you hurting yourself."

Kurt nodded, chewing on his lip and staring at his boyfriend. "Thanks for coming. I… I know it means a lot to him that you're here. He just didn't want you all to feel like you _had_ to come, I think."

Wes rolled his eyes. "That or he was hoping to get laid in a hospital bed."

"Yes, Wes. That was _clearly_ his motive." David rolled his own eyes. "For some reason, I think sex is the last thing on his mind. I knew the seriousness wouldn't last long."

"It never does." Wes said cheerfully. "At least I'm fun to be around, right?"

Kurt snorted a bit. "That's one way of putting it."

* * *

Blaine's eyes snapped open and he sat up, looking around wildly. Wes and David were no longer there but he very vaguely remembered them hugging him and saying goodbye at some point or another… that day? Well, he couldn't be sure it had been _that day_. The room was empty except for Kurt, who was sitting on a chair with his eyes half closed, softly breathing.

_Kurt_.

Tears filled Blaine's eyes and he let out a choked sob as it what exactly had happened suddenly hit him. He stared around the room with big eyes. He was in the hospital because he had been in a wreck. A bad wreck. Wes and David had visited, he remembered Carole and Burt being there, and _Kurt was still there_.

"Blaine? Blaine, sweetie, what's wrong?" Kurt jumped up, stumbling to the bed. "Honey? Is it your stomach again? Do you need to throw up?"

"They—wouldn't—I—." Blaine struggled to find words. Kurt pulled him to his chest gently and Blaine balled Kurt's shirt in one hand, beginning to helplessly cry. Kurt was there. _Kurt was there_.

"Shh, honey, shh." Kurt whispered, rocking him gently. "Shh, shh, shh, honey. It's okay."

"I was so scared." Blaine choked out into his chest, feeling like a baby. All of the nerves from earlier were hitting him at once, though, and it was extremely overwhelming. The car slamming into him and his own car being crushed. The fireman getting in his car, them moving it and cutting into it again so they could pull him out. Not being able to reach his phone to call for Kurt until he was out. But Kurt was _there_. It didn't matter because he was right there. The officer had called like he said he would. And Kurt had come. "You came. You came."

"Of course I did." Kurt said, sounding almost as if he was crying himself. "Shh, everything is okay."

"She just hit me. I t-tried to move, Kurt, but she just slammed into me and my car spun and I—I —." Blaine fumbled for words, desperately trying to find them but his head and stomach hurt so bad that it hurt to focus on anything apart from Kurt's heartbeat. Because Kurt came. He was there. He was going to make it better. He was already making it better.

"Take a deep breath." Kurt whispered.

Blaine inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, letting his grip on Kurt loosen.

Kurt moved to lean him back against the pillows, but Blaine whimpered softly so Kurt pulled him right back, cradling him "You're okay. It's all over."

"I was so scared." Blaine whispered, watery hiccuping. He couldn't even feel embarrassed though. He was too relieved for that. "I was so freaking scared, Kurt. They kept asking for mom and dad's number and I tried to explain that they—you know—and… and I remember waking up, but I didn't remember the accident… and now I do, and I'm just so glad you're here, Kurt."

"Blaine, it's okay. Of course I'm right here. I wouldn't be anywhere else." Kurt whispered, still cradling him and rocking him gently. "I told you I wasn't leaving until you do and I'm not."

Blaine's arms wrapped around Kurt's waist and he tugged him even closer, face buried in his chest. Kurt could feel the tension leaving Blaine's body as he calmed down which, in turn, eased Kurt's tension.

"The swelling when down." Kurt whispered, not letting his grip loosen. "You woke up before David and Wes left. They did a scan and they said the swelling has gone down almost completely. You're going to be just fine. That medicine did _something_ at least."

Blaine pulled back offering Kurt a watery smile. "Does this mean I get to go home soon? I want to go home so bad."

Kurt pressed their foreheads together. "I want you to go home too, babe. We'll just have to talk to your doctor when she comes back and see. Alex should be here in about half an hour too. Carole and Dad are picking her up. Melody is with Rachel and her dads and Finn's fed Kreacher—."

"And my fish?" Blaine asked, looking hopeful.

"Of course." Kurt nodded. "I called him when he was there to remind him."

"I wonder how they're doing." Blaine said thoughtfully.

"The fish?" Kurt asked, looking at him.

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded.

"I'm sure they're just dandy and swimming their little hearts out." Kurt laughed a bit. "Blaine, do you remember after the accident any?"

"I remember falling asleep after I was out of the car and waking up here." Blaine said, forehead still pressed against Kurt's, watching his blue eyes carefully with his own hazel ones.

Kurt reached up, touching his face very gently to avoid hurting him because his cheek was still slightly bruised. "You lost consciousness in the ambulance; you didn't fall asleep. You hit your head _really_ hard, Blaine. The doctor said the concussion will bother you for a while, but now that the swelling is gone… you'll be okay."

"I remember _not_ remembering the accident and everything." Blaine whispered. "It's really weird."

"You couldn't remember Friday at all." Kurt whispered back. "She said you would remember but I was scared that you wouldn't…"

Blaine looked up to see Kurt had teary eyes.

"I was afraid you wouldn't be okay." Kurt whispered. He moved so that he was standing up, but still leaning over Blaine. He reached down, grabbing his hand and squeezing tightly. "How do you feel?"

Blaine took another deep breath. "Really, really sore."

"What about your stomach? Is that okay?"

"It hurts too but I don't need to throw up." Blaine leaned against his pillows. "My head hurts more than my stomach."

"Do you want me to get a doctor?"

Blaine shook his head, his nose scrunching up adorably. "I don't want more any more medicine than they _have_ to give me after that puking party earlier."

Kurt smiled sadly and spoke in a very calm and gentle voice. "If you're hurting, then you may _need_ more medicine."

"I just hate being on medicine." Blaine said miserably, turning his head away.

Kurt stroked his messy curls, not even caring that they hadn't been washed in… days, at that point. "I'm sorry, Blaine. I know… But I promise that they're only giving you medicine that they think you need."

Blaine screwed his eyes shut and nodded. "It really sucks."

"I know. I remember." Kurt kissed the top of his head. "Soon you'll be off of the medicine and you'll feel as good as new. And now that you have a cast, you'll have an excuse to wear those ugly shorts that I hate."

Blaine opened his eyes, giving Kurt a pitiful smile. "They're really comfortable, you know?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, kissed the top of his head again, and murmured into his curls, "You're my favorite. I love you so much."

"Mmh, you're my favorite too." Blaine gave him a real smile this time, eyes lighting up. "Did you say that Alex was going to be here soon?"

"Yeah." Kurt nodded, stroking his hair.

"I hope you let him know I'm not on my death bed or anything."

"Nah. I thought it would be sweet if he ran in sobbing and you were sitting up eating ice cream." Kurt teased. "I've been keeping in touch with Alex, David, and Wes when you've been sleeping."

Blaine smiled again, leaning his face into Kurt's open hand. "Do you think he's bringing Danny?"

"No, he's not." Kurt said, shaking his head. "When he left, you hadn't even woken up yet. Nobody really knew what was going on… so he's coming alone."

"Oh." Blaine looked a little disappointed. "I like Danny."

"You like any child, Blaine." Kurt kissed him quickly. "Can I get you some food or anything? Are you thirsty?"

Blaine raised his hand up, pulling Kurt's lips back to his and mumbling, "Gimme this."

Kurt rolled his eyes but kissed back, hands on either side of Blaine's face. Blaine kissed back slowly, not pulling away until a throat was cleared.

"Well, someone is feeling better." A familiar voice said.

"Oh God." Kurt said, pulling away quickly.

"Don't let us interrupt, boys." Kurt's father said gruffly as Blaine's brother snorted.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? With all of those monitors you boys are on, we wouldn't want anyone to have a heart attack on top of everything else." Alex chimed in.

"Leave the boys alone." Carole snapped at both of them. She walked out from behind Burt and Alex, hugging each of the boys while looking at Blaine, clearly concerned. "Blaine, hon, how are you feeling?"

"The swelling has gone down." Blaine smiled, although he looked much paler than he had when she'd visited last.

"He had a bad reaction to the medicine that they gave him to get it down." Kurt explained as Alex came up to Blaine.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked Blaine.

"As okay as I can be stuck in here I guess." Blaine shrugged. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here and now my brain isn't even swollen."

"Are you really apologizing that your condition that could have been life threatening went away?" Alex rolled his eyes. "I wanted to come and make sure you were okay."

"Thanks." Blaine bit his lip. "I've been better, but I was a lot worse four hours ago. And even worse than that on Friday…"

"Are you comfortable? Have the doctors been nice to you? Have they listened to Kurt?" Alex asked.

"You sound eerily like Mom when you ask several questions at once." Blaine said, rubbing his forehead with his good hand. "Everyone has been nice."

"And they've listened to you?" Alex asked, looking at Kurt.

"Well, they've clued me in on stuff. Ever since Blaine's been awake, they've been consulting with him mostly." Kurt responded, sitting himself back on the edge of the bed.

"So what are we looking at now that the swelling has gone down? Can he go home soon?" Alex asked.

"They're going to talk to him a little later tonight and see how he's doing. Blaine planned to ask about that then." Kurt said, feeling rather good about himself for knowing the answers to these questions. Maybe he was handling this well—even if the whole thing had been and was continuing to be scary. Maybe he was doing a good job.

"Alright." Alex looked relieved. "I'm going to stick around for a while if you don't care, Blaine. I'll handle the car, insurance calls, whatever. We'll just have to figure out what to do about school, and who will do what. Obviously the girl who hit you will have to pay but it will probably be a reimbursement thing. Unless she didn't have car insurance which is a whole other thing. But I'll take care of it."

"Thanks." Blaine said softly, chewing on his lower lip. He wasn't used to having an adult step in and take over things for him. Especially ones that were related to him.

"Thanks for taking care of everything, Kurt." Alex said. "You can help with what you want, of course. I don't want to just walk in and start doing everything. But I'd like to help. So, if you want…"

"I don't know how much I can handle since I'm not family." Kurt admitted, interrupting him. "But I'll do everything I can. I'm actually… I've never dealt with anything like this before. If you can tell me what to do I can do it. I want to help."

"I think most of that can wait until Blaine is out of the hospital." Carole said, squeezing Kurt's arm as Blaine sent him a small, grateful smile. "Or at least until we talk to the doctor again and find out exactly where we are right now."

"That's a good idea." Alex said, nodding.

As if on cue, the door opened and Blaine's doctor stepped in. "How are we doing, Blaine?"

"Better." Blaine responded, and then without a hesitation he added, "Can I go home?"

She laughed a bit and approached him. "So soon? Is that that bad?"

"I feel like I'd be more comfortable at home and that would speed up the healing process." Blaine said smoothly, attempting a charming and sweet smile.

"You must be feeling better." She laughed again. "You're still pretty sore, though?"

"If I say yes, does that mean I have to stay?" Blaine asked hesitantly.

"You're going to be pretty sore for a while, sweetie. Longer than you'll be in the hospital." She responded. "If we kept you here until you weren't sore, it would probably be two more weeks."

Blaine's eyes widened in horror.

"I said _if_. We won't be keeping you that long." She said quickly. "I'm prepared to let you leave tomorrow afternoon if the swelling stays down. But I _do_ need to talk to your brother alone if that's alright."

"That's fine with me." Alex said, standing up straighter. "Kurt, do you want to come?"

Kurt looked at Blaine, who merely shrugged and reached for his water bottle which Burt handed him. "I don't care. You'll find out whatever it is anyway."

"I'll be right back." Kurt kissed him quickly, following Blaine's doctor and brother out of the room as Burt started talking to Blaine about a game that was about to come on the television. He carefully closed the door behind him, eyes on the doctor.

"It's about Blaine's insurance." The doctor said, looking at Alex. "We didn't want to talk to him about it because we're afraid stress will make his condition decline."

"What about it?" Alex questioned, looking confused.

"His parents removed him from their plan last winter after he was admitted for Strep." She said gently.

Alex gritted his teeth, pulling out his phone. "So what you're saying is…"

"Luckily he was brought here because as an institute, we still give the same care to patients that don't have insurance as the ones that do. We're one of the few." She said softly. "But what I'm saying is that, even though he wasn't at fault, the other woman's insurance is disputing. I'm sure that will be dropped but in the meantime…"

"In the meantime, Blaine doesn't have health insurance and he's been in the hospital, in serious condition, for near four days." Alex finished.

"Exactly." She nodded. "Did he _know_ that he wasn't on health insurance? His old card was still in his wallet and everything."

"He… he thought he was still on the insurance." Kurt said nervously. "He still had his dental, but it's through his school… and I guess he just…"

"There was no reason for him to think he wasn't." Alex said, clearly angry. "Fine. What needs to be done?"

"We can set up a payment plan, see what can be done until the charges are filed and the at fault driver is ordered to pay the bills." The doctor said. "Or cash can be paid outright. Once the woman's insurance pays, that money will then essentially be transferred right back to you by the hospital or by his insurance."

"How much is that?" Alex asked, gripping his phone tightly.

The doctor pulled a sheet out of Blaine's folder and handed it to Alex. A price was circled in red marker. Kurt couldn't make out the number, but he sure didn't see any zeros behind decimals.

"Alright. Can we talk about this in a minute? I've got to call my grandmother." Alex said, already flipping through the contacts in his phone.

"Of course. I'll be at the front desk and if I'm not, the receptionist there will be able to take care of it." She gave Kurt a sad smile and then walked off.

"You're calling your grandmother?" Kurt asked quietly, glancing in the direction of the hospital room.

"I don't have the cash with me. I can't do a money transfer that big overseas. They'll think I'm a drug dealer or something." Alex responded. "I don't have a choice. I won't tell her why. I'll make something up—I don't know what yet. But I don't trust any payment plan. I would rather pay up front and get a check back when it's sorted. Then the hospital can't pull any interest charges out their asses."

"But—."

"Look, I know you don't want them involved. Neither do I." Alex said. "But he won't find out. The money will go right back to me when the girl's insurance pays up. If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it, Kurt. But I can't get into my money without her permission. It's going to _me_ and I'm going to pay for it."

Kurt bit his lip and nodded, feeling uneasy. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"I'm not going to let them near Blaine. I can promise you that much." Alex reassured him. "Don't tell Blaine this insurance thing is going on until I've got the money. It's really my money we're using anyway. I don't see any sense in getting him all upset over our parents."

"It's… It's _your_ money? Your just getting some out early?" Kurt asked.

"Yes." Alex nodded. "My money. She just has to sign a paper for me to get into it. That's all."

"Al… Alright." Kurt nodded again, biting his lip. "I'll go sit with Blaine then. What should I tell him?"

"Tell him I'll be right back." Alex said, waving. He took down the hallway, speaking into his phone, "Grandmother? It's Alexander. I need to see you right away."

**_Part Three_**

"How did it go?" Kurt whispered three hours later when Alex came back into Blaine's hospital room.

The three hours since Alex had left had been spent anxiously tapping his foot and biting his fingernails. It wasn't that he didn't trust Alex's judgment, but maybe he… didn't trust Alex's judgment. Blaine's brother or not, Kurt didn't have much to go on. Maybe Alex would have good intentions that went poorly wrong. He just didn't know enough about Alex to fully trust him yet and, to be honest, no one else in Blaine's family had proven trustworthy. Kurt half expected Blaine's parents to march in after him, but he inwardly let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that Alex was indeed alone.

"I told her I needed it for preschool for Danny. I don't think she believed me, but I got it. It's taken care of, so don't worry about it." Alex said quietly, glancing at Blaine who was fast asleep in bed with his head rested on Carole's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Carole asked, looking at Kurt curiously. "Did something happen?"

"Blaine's parents took him off of their insurance policy and I had to get permission to pay the bills until the woman's insurance kids in." Alex explained. "But it's taken care of. I already paid and everything. There's nothing to worry about."

"You're kidding." Carole said, looking at Blaine sadly. "They really kicked him off of his insurance?"

"I wish I was. I'm just really hoping she wasn't calling Dad when I left her office because she was calling somebody. He wouldn't know what's going on exactly, but he's not dumb. He'll know that Blaine's involved if he finds out." Alex sighed a bit. "Kurt, Blaine needs to get his own phone plan. They probably haven't realized he's still on theirs yet because they don't pay their own bills. Someone does for them. If they catch wind of anything and think too hard into it, they'll shut his phone off."

"Oh… okay." Kurt said, glancing at Blaine who remained fast asleep. Truth be told, he wasn't very concerned with Blaine's phone. At that point in time, he just wanted Blaine to get better so he could take him home. That being said, it was hard to put that much thought into an iPhone that Blaine was getting sick of anyway.

"Is he on anything else that they would be providing? Car insurance?" Alex asked., interrupting his thoughts

"No. Blaine pays everything else. They only paid health and his phone." Kurt said quietly, leaning over and grabbing Blaine's hand. He then added, "Well we _thought_ they paid his health."

Alex's phone started to ring and he looked down, scowling and shutting his ringer off immediately to keep it from waking Blaine. "She must have called Dad. It's him. I'll be back."

"If they come down here—." Burt began, looking angry as Alex walked out.

"Burt, no." Carole said.

"The last time they were around these boys, Kurt ended up in the hospital and he treated Blaine like he was trash." Burt said, clearly trying to not raise his voice. "I'm not going to let it happen again."

"Please, don't talk about it." Kurt whispered. "I don't want Blaine to know his family's been involved even if all his grandmother did was sign a paper that let Alex get his own money. Please."

"The kid will know if they come down here and start having a go at him again." Burt said gruffly.

"Well until someone marches in here, I don't want him to know." Kurt said firmly, meeting his father's eyes. "So _please_ stop."

Burt looked at him and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and then gave an abrupt nod.

"I'm going to see what's going on with his dad. I'll be right back… If he wakes up, please don't say anything." Kurt let go of Blaine's hand, easing it carefully onto the bed. Blaine's fingers flexed towards him and they only relented when Carole ruffled his hair and whispered something comforting in his ear.

Kurt sighed and stepped out into the hallway to see if Alex was off of the phone, hoping that Burt wouldn't resume his conversation without Kurt in the cramped and cold hospital room. He hoped that he'd walk out to Alex putting his phone into his pocket and heading back into the room to be with Blaine, but instead Kurt walked right into another discussion—this one a heated argument between Alex and Blaine's father… about Blaine, of course. That much was obvious from second Kurt stepped over.

"No, Dad, I'm not going to listen to this trash. You want to cut him off? Fine. That is your call. But I'm not going to let _my_ little brother worry himself to sleep every night over whether or not hospital bills are paid." Alex snapped into the phone, looking furious.

Kurt expected to simply hear a one sided conversation, but Blaine's father's comebacks were so loud that Kurt could very clearly hear each and every word. He tried to not think of Blaine being yelled at by that cold voice _,_ but it was hard to not think about it when Kurt was hearing it first hand. Then again, it was even harder to picture his sweet boyfriend being yelled at at all. Because Blaine was a sweetheart. What could he ever _really_ do to deserve the words that Kurt was sure he was about to hear.

"If your little brother wasn't such a disappointment, he wouldn't have to worry about it. The faggot deserves everything that is coming to him. He is _trash_ , Alexander. Your brother thinks that it is okay to drop out of school and shack up with that other fairy boy and have sex. If his _boyfriend's_ fag enabling family chooses to let their son do that, fine. But my son will not tarnish my name by doing—doing—those things! I won't allow it!"

Kurt scowled, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring daggers at the phone in Alex's hand. If _only_ he could let Blaine's father know exactly where he could stick those words. Or exactly how much of a disappointment that Blaine was _not_.

"You never liked Blaine!" Alex protested, sounding very much like Kurt imagined David had sounded when he had confronted Blaine's father. "You always thought he was too loud, too eccentric, too friendly, too nice, and too girly. I didn't see you all much but anyone can pick that up by being in the same general area as you when he was around on Christmases. Every time he would even open his mouth you would criticize him."

"He needed the criticism! I was trying to show him how to be a man and not some—some _girl_!" Blaine's father said—or rather, shouted. It was now at the point where the man was clearly shouting.

"You _waited_ for the opportunity to turn everyone against him and you took it as soon as you got it, didn't you?" Alex snapped.

"I didn't have to turn anyone against him! Nobody sane wants a _faggot_ in their family! Do you realize the votes your grandmother would have lost? That money she gains as senator goes straight into your bank account when she dies!"

Alex took a deep breath, looking right at Kurt with a 'shoot me please' look on his face. Kurt stood, lips pursed together and feeling blood rushing throughout his entire body. Blaine's father sounded angry? _Kurt_ was angry. He could not believe anyone would ever say such things about Blaine, but then to try to manipulate Alex into the same mindset for _money_? No. This family was even lower than Kurt thought they were—and he'd thought they were pretty low. How could anyone treat Blaine this way? _How_?

"See? With your brother out of the picture, all that extra money goes to _you_. To your son, to pay for college and a good life."

"You couldn't _stand_ the fact that grandpa liked Blaine, could you?" Alex asked suddenly, thoroughly confusing Kurt. "You couldn't _stand_ it. Grandpa always said you were in medicine for the wrong reasons, but Blaine was doing things that he loved. That's why Grandpa was so proud of him."

"Don't you dare—."

"You were afraid that Blaine would get more money than you, weren't you?" Alex continued. "You were pretty concerned with the contents of the will when he died. In fact, I'm starting to think the only two people that were even upset were Blaine and I."

"How _dare_ you—."

"How dare me? How dare you bring that money into this, trying to control me? Everything is about your stupid _goddamn_ money. Don't you have enough money, Dad? Is your house not big enough? Is your car not new enough?"

"Don't you want a good life? Don't you want your son to have a good life?" Blaine's father asked, lowering his voice. He was clearly trying to make Alex 'see the error of his ways' or something. The voice was sickingly in-genuine and Kurt found himself having the strongest urge to go hug Blaine and never let go. At the same time, though, Kurt wanted—needed to hear this. He needed it to understand Blaine, to know what he went through, and to know what his family was truly like—to know first hand, that is.

"Where's Blaine's good life, Dad?" Alex snapped. "Because he's sure living it up right now. He's in a hospital and he's not even surrounded by his own family. I don't know how you and mom even consider what we have a family! I jumped countries to get away and you don't even speak about Blaine. Yet you want to act like you've got this picture perfect family and while you're hiding behind a stupid doctor's office and a receptionist who you're paying for sex because your own wife looks elsewhere!"

Kurt's eyes widened and he remembered something Blaine said… something about suspicions of what his mom did or didn't do at some point or another… Blaine clearly thought his mother was cheating as well, but he hadn't come out and said it as blatantly as Alex had.

"Blaine would have had family with him if he had made the right choices—." Now Blaine's father sounded angry again.

"Right choices? He has made _all_ of the right choices. Blaine is in school, has two jobs, and provides well over half of the things he needs for himself. _On his own_."

"On his own? Are you stupid? That boy's family is paying for him. He dropped out."

"No, dad, I am _not_ stupid. Blaine didn't drop out. He took a semester off. He's in the _top_ of his class. He's going to go to law school. And you know what, Dad? You want to _punish_ him for being gay? Guess what? He's doing _just fine_ without you and your support!" Alex sneered.

"If he was doing _just fine_ you wouldn't be in Ohio, would you?" His father snapped right back. "I'm not discussing him anymore. I never want to hear his name again. Do you hear me? I do not want to hear _his_ name again."

"He is your son whether you like it or not." Alex said slowly. "You're supposed to love your children unconditionally."

"He is no son of mine. You want to rush to his aid? You be his father. As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't have one. And you would do well to not get involved in his affairs either, because if I find out that you are sneaking to get money for _him_ again, I'll have a word with your grandmother about just how long after her death that you'll have to wait. "

Alex snapped his phone shut, fuming. "Fucking _bastard_."

Kurt gritted his teeth so hard he was afraid he would crack one, resisting the urge to ball his hand into a fist and punch a hole in the wall. How could that man _be_ like that? And what was with his blatant obsession with money? It was not _normal_. And how could he try to manipulate the one person in Blaine's family that he had? Did they literally want to take _everything_ from Blaine? Did he dislike Blaine _that_ much?

"Blaine doesn't hear about this." He finally said, very softly. "Please."

"I agree." Alex said, anger still evident in his voice. "I'll be back in soon. I've been hit with the strongest urge to call and talk to _my_ son."

"Alright." Kurt nodded and, without another word, turned and went back into the hospital room. He walked to the side of the bed that Carole didn't occupy and, after leaning over, kissed the top of Blaine's head repeatedly. Blaine smiled a bit, nuzzling his head into Carole's shoulder.

It didn't matter, Kurt reminded himself. Blaine wasn't with his family anymore. He was with _him_. And Kurt would make sure that Blaine was never around his parents again.

Besides, Kurt knew that was his father's opinion. It wasn't a big surprise. Was it painful to hear those words being said about his boyfriend? Yes. But Blaine didn't need that man. Alex was right. Blaine was doing just fine on his own. Blaine was smarter, kinder, and he was going to make something of himself. Without their help.

"They're not coming, are they?" Carole whispered, looking at Kurt sadly.

"No. They don't know where Blaine's at. They just know he's in a hospital." Kurt whispered, kissing the top of his boyfriend's head again. "Don't say anything. Please. He's got enough to deal with right now without adding this on."

"I agree." Carole said, nodding slightly.

"Me too." Blaine mumbled sleepily, stretching his arm out and shifting.

"Are you awake?" Kurt asked, eyes widening. "Do you know what we're talking about?"

"I'm hoping that it's food related."

Carole laughed. "Do you want us to go get you something, hon?"

"I can drive somewhere." Burt said, coming closer. "What do you want, Blaine?"

"Mmhno. That's okay."

"That means yes, Burt." Carole said.

"I'm aware. What do you want, bud? There's a lot of stuff around here."

"I'd love Wendy's." Blaine said, eyes still not having opened.

"I think I can manage that." Burt said. "Is anyone else hungry?"

"I am starving." Kurt admitted.

Blaine sat up, eyes opening. "You—you—."

"Shut up, Blaine." Kurt rolled his eyes, feeling himself beginning to smile a bit. He knew Blaine well enough to know what reaction was coming. It was the same reaction that he got every time he agreed to eat fast food.

"You—will—willingly—eat—fast food?" Blaine asked dramatically, putting his good hand over his heart. "And I'm stuck here in the hospital. Why must my life be this way?"

"I think Blaine is feeling better." Burt chuckled.

"He still needs to take it easy." Carole chastised, nudging Blaine until he was lying again. "Now what do you want from Wendy's, sweetie?"

"He'll literally eat anything." Kurt answered. "Get him a number one with no pickles. And a medium Dr. Pepper."

"What he said." Blaine said, pointing at Kurt.

"Alright." Burt nodded, giving Kurt and Carole paper to write down what they wanted. "I'll be back."

"Thanks." Blaine said as Burt left, reaching for Kurt's hand.

Kurt leaned over, kissing him. "How do you feel, Blaine?"

"A little sore but your dad is bringing me fast food. I have no complaints for the moment." Blaine said, kissing him back.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Where'd Alex go?" Blaine asked.

"He had to call home for a few minutes but he'll be right back." Kurt said, running his fingers through Blaine's curls. "What, am I not good enough for you anymore?"

"Nope." Blaine said, giving Kurt an adorable smile.

"You two bicker too much." Carole laughed. "Do you boys ever get tired of bickering?"

"We only act like we like each other when other people are around." Kurt said, sounding very serious. "In actuality, we _hate_ each other."

"Yeah." Blaine said, stretching. "Mostly because he's so tall. But it's okay, 'cause I'll be taller than him one day."

"Blaine, the chances of you growing past the age of twenty are pretty much nonexistent." Carole said gently.

"I will prove you all wrong." Blaine pouted. "Just you wait and see."

"Okay, sweetie." Kurt laughed, patting Blaine's head. "We believe you."

* * *

"Look at who it is, Melody! Look at who it is!" Carole cooed the next morning, coming into Blaine's hospital room. Both Kurt and Blaine were sitting on Blaine's hospital bed, holding hands while looking down at a booklet. "Is it Kurt and Blaine?"

Melody giggled as they both looked up, smiling.

"Who is it, Melody? Who is it?" Carole asked again excitedly.

"Bub!" Melody cooed.

"Is that Bubba? Is it?" Carole smiled and approached the bed.

"Bub!" Melody outstretched her little arms, watching Kurt eagerly.

"Hello, Mellie!" Kurt let go of Blaine's hand and scooped her up. "Hello, precious!"

Blaine reached over with his good hand, tickling her chubby belly as Burt walked in. "Did you tell Blaine yet?"

"Tell me what?" Blaine asked, face falling. "They're not making me stay are they? I knew they were going to back down again. We've been going back and forth all morning."

Carole's smile grew. "No. When Burt was getting Melody dressed to come visit you—oh, you tell Burt!"

Burt chuckled. "I told her we were getting ready to go see you two and she started saying bub—."

"But she's been saying that." Kurt laughed a bit, kissing Melody's cheek.

"But she also said—."

"BAY!" Melody shrieked, toppling onto her side and crawling closer to Blaine.

"Are you trying to say my name, pumpkin?" Blaine cooed happily, leaning down as best as he could.

"It'll take her a long time to get Kurt's. We knew she'd try yours or Finn's eventually because they're easier sounds." Burt chuckled again.

"Bay Bay!" Melody hugged Blaine's arm and pulled herself up into a standing position.

"Just look at you!" Blaine said, kissing her chubby cheek. "Oh so grown up at one year old!"

Melody giggled and fell on her butt before crawling back over to Kurt. She plopped herself on his lap, grabbed his t-shirt sleeve in her little hand, and nuzzled his chest.

"She's been so excited all morning ever since we told her we were coming to see you two." Carole smiled. "She loves her boys."

Blaine laughed and waved as Melody blinked one eye at him, the other side of her face buried in Kurt's chest.

"We're looking at books with cars." Kurt told Carole and Burt. "He can basically get a new car and almost be even with his old payments. Alex brought them over."

"That's exciting at least." Carole said as Burt interestedly came over to look. "Where did he go?"

"He's at my parent's." Blaine said simply, shrugging.

"How did you know that?" Kurt asked, looking alarmed.

"It was pretty obvious when he said he was 'just going out.' He doesn't even live in the country anymore." Blaine shrugged again. "I mean, I don't care. He can see them. I just hope he doesn't bring them back with him…"

"He won't." Kurt said very firmly, mentally adding, _I'll kill him if he does_.

"Do you know what he's doing?" Blaine asked.

Kurt looked hesitant. Burt and Carole both knew that they'd found out about the lack of insurance the night before, but they had yet to tell Blaine. Kurt wasn't sure how Blaine would handle it even if they situation had been fixed by Alex. One thing he did know: Blaine was going to feel incredibly guilty that Alex had paid his astronomical hospital bill—whether it would be returned to him in full later or not.

"Oh God. What's he doing?" Blaine asked, sensing that something wasn't quite right.

Kurt leaned over, grabbing his hand. Melody, who was on his lap still and didn't like when she was being ignored, scowled and crawled off to the side of the bed towards her father, who picked her up.

"Don't get upset." Kurt pleaded, looking into his eyes.

"What's he doing?" Blaine repeated.

"I'm not exactly sure what he's doing, but I have a feeling that I know what it concerns." Kurt said slowly.

"What?"

"Just tell him, Kurt. He's going to find out after he's home anyway." Burt said gruffly.

"Last night the doctor told him… Blaine… your parents cut you off of their insurance after you got Strep." Kurt said, gently.

"I don't have insurance… and I'm in the hospital… and… _shit_." Blaine's hazel eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god."

"It's okay." Kurt said quickly.

"Please don't tell me what you're about to tell me." Blaine said, closing his eyes. "They didn't—my parents didn't—."

"No. Alex paid." Kurt said. "Just until the other woman's insurance kicks in and reimburses him. They're trying to fight it, but they're going to _have_ to pay. The woman was clearly at fault. They'd had several calls about her driving recklessly."

"You're telling me." Blaine scoffed. "You promise my parents didn't pay for it?"

"No, Alex paid for it with his own money… He was going today to get you set up on a new insurance plan, he told me, and a new phone plan with the same number… but he was also going to see your parents." Kurt responded, squeezing his hand tightly.

"I hope he tells them off real good." Burt grunted, bouncing Melody up and down.

"No." Carole said. "The last thing either of those boys need is for Alex to break off contact with his parents. Alex is Blaine's only connection to that family and the money he deserves. Who knows what Blaine would have to go through to get that money without knowing someone in the family?"

"You just find a real good lawyer to do it for you."

Blaine rubbed his head, letting out a soft sigh.

"Let's not talk about his money." Kurt said, interrupting their discussion. "It stresses him out."

"We just want to make sure you get every penny you're entitled to." Burt said, looking at Blaine. "You're too nice, kid. I hate to think you'd let them take that from you without a fight because of that."

"I won't." Blaine said, sighing a bit. "Hey, Kurt, did the hospital give you my phone?"

Kurt bit his lip, looking confused. "No. They gave me your clothes and your wallet but that's it. Carole, Dad?"

"They gave everything to you, kid." Burt said, shaking his head.

"But they had it. The police officer took it, or the fireman, or someone." Blaine frowned.

"We'll ask the doctor." Carole said, running her fingers through his hair. "I bet you're excited to go home tonight, aren't you?"

"Extremely." Blaine said, perking up.

"I went up and fed your dog and fish today. The poor dog looks about pitiful." Burt chuckled. "He was whining the whole time."

"Aw, my baby." Kurt cooed.

" _I'm_ your baby for at least a week." Blaine said. "If that dog gets all of your attention, Kurt, I will go and stay with David."

Kurt burst out laughing. "How will you get there?"

Blaine looked at him with big hazel eyes, pouting, "You're so mean to me."

"I cannot believe you just said that, Kurt!" Carole exclaimed.

"We are so over." Blaine teased. "Take your dog and go home."

"Half of what's in that house is mine, you know? I'll take the fishie cup too. I paid for it."

"I'm pretty sure I did." Blaine protested, very seriously.

"No, I did." Kurt shook his head. "I'm taking it with me."

"Well, I _guess_ you can stay." Blaine heaved a big sigh. "I don't want to part with my fishie cup."

"You'll get over it tomorrow when you're shoving your face with cake." Kurt responded.

...

"I can't believe they tried to get me to stay _again_." Blaine mumbled later that day as he walked out of the hospital doors on his crutches, after having absolutely refused to let them wheel him out to his car. "They didn't even have me on machines. I was just sitting there and waiting for them to bring me pills."

"Well you're signed out now. Don't worry about it." Kurt said, only letting the hospital door shut after Carole and Melody were both out (Melody back to scooting on her butt, which was evidently her transportation mode of choice).

"I just want to get home." Blaine said, trying to move a little too fast and stumbling a bit.

"Don't rush, hon. We have no where to be." Carole said quickly.

Blaine let out a deep sigh and re-situated his crutches, eyes squinted against the sunlight. Where were his sunglasses when he needed them? Oh, right. His car. Meaning they were either broke and in a junkyard or not broke and in a junkyard. Either way, they were no longer in his possession.

"I told you that you should have let them wheel you out." Kurt said anxiously.

Blaine shot Kurt a mock annoyed look and took another shaky step.

"You okay?" Kurt asked, standing right next to him in case he fell.

"Having a concussion is terrible." Was all Blaine said, beginning to walk.

"Burt's getting the car so you don't have to rush." Carole said in an attempt to get him to slow down. "Take your time, sweetie."

"I just want to get home. I'm so sick of this hospital. I feel awful and I don't want to be here."

"I know, I know. But you hit your head pretty hard." Carole said. "You just need to take it easy even if they are letting you leave. You have to take care of yourself just like Kurt had to."

"I know, I know." Blaine slowly made his way to the car which had been pulled up. Burt got out of the car and helped him into the backseat. Blaine found that he didn't have the energy to even be embarrassed and maybe Kurt was right. Maybe he shouldn't have insisted on walking out. Now his head was pounding more than it had in two days.

"Alright. All settled in?" Burt asked after Blaine was leaning against the back of the seat.

"Yeah, thanks." Blaine nodded, glad to be off of his aching leg. Maybe he could sleep on the way home… and when they were home… Maybe he could just sleep forever. Or at least until the concussion was gone.

As soon as Burt moved out of the car, Kurt slid into the seat next to Blaine and pulled him down until his head was rested on Kurt's shoulder.

"It's like someone is in my head just pounding on a drum over and over and over." Blaine moaned pitifully, closing his eyes and letting himself relax against Kurt.

"I hate to say this, boys, but we're going to have to put Melody's car seat in the middle." Carole said, looking apologetic. Melody, who was in her mother's arms, giggled and stuck her slobbery fingers in Carole's hair.

"And if we don't want her back here?" Kurt joked, kissing Blaine's cheek before climbing out of the car and tickling Melody's belly.

"Can you snap it in, sweetheart?" she asked, picking the car seat off of the ground with her free hand and passing it to him. "Just run the seatbelt through the bottom and snap it in."

Kurt crawled back in with the seat and attempted to do so. Blaine sat up straighter, opening his eyes and holding the car seat still as Kurt fiddled with the seatbelt and snapped it into place.

"Teamwork!" Carole laughed when the seat belt finally clicked, passing Melody to Kurt.

"That or I'm dumb." Kurt said as Melody wrapped her arms around his neck. Kurt snuggled her close. "Oh, how sweet. You're so sweet."

"She loves her big brother." Burt said proudly from the driver's seat.

Carole carefully closed the door and climbed into the front seat. "Now we can't go anywhere until she's _in_ her seat, Kurt."

"It's not my fault the perfect baby wants to hug her perfect brother, okay?" Kurt scoffed, kissing Melody's cheek. She waved her hand up and down at Blaine, grinning adorably.

"Hey! You are paying attention to me right now, Mellie. Not Blaine. Me." Kurt teased. "Bubba."

Melody giggled and buried her face in his shoulder, nuzzling him.

"Can't we take her home, Blaine? She's a snuggle bunny like you. We'll all three get along really well."

"We'll trade you. Melody for the dumb dog." Blaine said, giving a weak smile at Carole.

"I think not. You two wouldn't last two weeks." Carole said very seriously. "It's much more involved than snuggling her when she's being cute. You should know that after your sleepover."

"Point taken." Blaine squeaked. "Forget I asked."

...

Kurt was glad to be home.

It was nice to be able to lay in bed, snuggled up to Blaine, without a metal bar poking into his side or arm. It was also nice to see how much more cheerful Blaine was at home simply because he was _at home_.

"Mmh, does this mean you have to help me shower?" Blaine giggled into his arm, half asleep after they had been home for about an hour.

"Huh?" Kurt asked, looking down at him.

"You know." Blaine nuzzled him arm and blinked up at him adorably.

"You have such a one track mind, Blaine Anderson." Kurt sighed, running his fingers through Blaine's short curls.

"Really, though, how am I supposed to shower with this?" Blaine asked, pushing himself into a sitting position and pointing at his cast. "Kurt, do my toes look weird?"

"Oh God." Kurt rolled his eyes. "No, Blaine. Your toes look perfectly normal."

"Yeah but they look weird." Blaine protested, staring at his toes intently.

"Everyone's feet look weird, honey."

Blaine tilted his head and wiggled his toes, looking back up at Kurt. "Why did they give me red?"

"I don't know. I don't think their biggest concern was whether your cast choice of color was red or not." Kurt laughed.

"Are you sure you didn't tell them I wanted red? Seeing as you think it's one of my best colors and all?" Blaine asked, arching his eyebrow.

"Blaine, your cast was the _farthest_ thing from my mind. Plus, I would have said you'd wanted purple if it were me." Kurt said, moving to kiss his arm.

"It's a good thing I have a lot of red shirts I guess." Blaine shrugged and extended his other foot out, looking at his legs. "This is going to suck. When they take the cast off they're going to be uneven. I'm going to look weird."

"You already look weird." Alex said, coming up and standing in the doorway.

"Gee, thanks." Blaine scoffed, looking up at his brother.

"You're welcome." Alex said, smiling sweetly and causing Kurt to laugh into his hand. "Hey, are you two sure you don't mind if I stay until the meeting next week? I can just get a hotel."

"You flew all of the way here because of me and you had to pay my hospital bill." Blaine said. "We're not going to make you spend a week in a hotel."

"Yeah. The apartment is small, but we've got the blow up mattress." Kurt added.

"Did you call and talk to Mia and Danny?" Blaine asked.

"Yes. I had a thirty minute discussion about why he can't move everything in his room into the bathroom." Alex sighed. "He saw some guy make a bed in his bathtub on TV and the child has been slowly migrating his stuff in there ever since."

Blaine snorted.

"And when I try to explain why he can't do it and move his stuff back, he suddenly reverts to an age where he can't speak and just blinks at me." Alex rolled his eyes.

"That's really cute." Kurt giggled.

"It is cute when you don't have to live with it." Alex pointed out and then added, "Well, I guess it's a little cute. Mia thinks it's adorable but she's not the one that has to tell him why we can't. When I took his pillow out of the bathtub you'd have thought I killed his best friend. He cried for twenty minutes."

"Aww." Blaine cooed. "I bet he's fun to live with though."

"Sure, if you don't like sleep." Alex joked. "He's an interesting addition to the family, that's for sure. Apparently Mia really likes him so we can't take him back. I've asked once or twice."

"You'd probably be lost without him." Kurt said.

"I would. Oh man, I've got to get Mia to text me this video from her phone. He's taken to making animal sounds when he's mad because we told him he couldn't yell. You've got no idea how funny it is so have him squawk at you after you tell him that it's bed time. I never thought being a parent would be so damn entertaining." Alex laughed a bit. "Anyway, though, are you sure?"

"We are very sure." Kurt said firmly as Blaine nodded. "I would feel better with someone here with him besides me, too. Just in case anything happens."

"I figured I could head to the store for you two since you haven't been here in a while and we still have to get Blaine's medicine filled." Alex said, nodding.

"Can I go?" Blaine asked eagerly.

" _No_." Kurt said, looking at him as if he were insane. "You could barely make it to the car earlier."

Blaine moaned, dramatically covering his face with his pillow. "I need movement to survive."

"The doctor said they wanted you to move around as little as possible for the first few days. We don't want you to overdo it." Kurt said.

Blaine lowered the pillow, scowling at Kurt in a way he had never seen before. "This is payback for when you got out of the hospital and I made you stay in bed for two days after you insisted you were okay to be up and about, isn't it?"

"No." Kurt sighed. "I just want to make sure that you're okay."

Blaine frowned. "Please? And you can nap."

"No, Blaine. I know what you're trying to do and I already told you. I don't care that my birthday present was in your car. I don't need anything." Kurt pressed a kiss to his cheek. "You're going to be home on my birthday. That's present enough."

Blaine sighed a bit, shoulders slumping. "Fine. I'd make you a cake but I can't make anything that isn't microwavable."

"That's why you found someone that can." Alex laughed from the doorway, watching them. "If you make me a list, guys, I'll go. You should probably stay with Blaine to make sure nothing happens."

"Are you _sure_ I can't go?" Blaine asked. "I'll walk slowly."

"It would take you twenty minutes to make it to the car, Blaine." Kurt retorted.

"Can I at least try to take a shower?" Blaine frowned. "I can put a bag over my cast or something."

"They wanted you to not do that for a while. They wanted you to do a sponge bath until you can't take it."

"Well I can't take it." Blaine said.

"Please just work with me here." Kurt whispered. "At least until your head is feeling better. Then you can shower."

"I really hate this!" Blaine sighed, glancing at the doorway and glad that Alex had excused himself to give them privacy.

"I don't want you standing that long, Blaine. I don't want you to fall and hit your head and be right back in the hospital, maybe even worse!" Kurt said, voice rising a bit.

"Fine." Blaine sighed again. He was pretty sure he'd never sighed so much in his life than he had within the last few minutes of their conversation. "Fine. Don't get mad at me."

"I'm not mad." Kurt slid his arms around Blaine's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder. "I'm just nervous about you being home, I guess. Remember how nervous you were when _I_ first came home during senior year? It's pretty on par with that, Blaine."

"Okay, okay." Blaine took a deep breath and nodded. He remembered all too well how stressed out he had been. Being uncooperative was only going to make it harder on Kurt and that wasn't what Blaine wanted at all. Especially not after Kurt had stayed in a hospital with him for days. "I'm sorry."

"I know that you're frustrated. Believe me, I remember." Kurt leaned up slightly, pressing his lips to Blaine's cheek. "Just take it easy for a few days and then we'll get you up and about, okay?"

"Alright." Blaine relaxed against his pillows as Kurt yawned. "Are you tired?"

"Mhmm." Kurt covered his mouth and nodded. "Are you doing okay, Blaine? Is your medicine still working?"

"I've felt better but I've felt worse." Blaine responded.

Kurt laid down, pulling the covers up over both of them. "Take a nap with me"

"I may as well. Otherwise I'll be bored out of my mind." Blaine laughed a bit.

Kurt scooted up to Blaine, arms going around him. "It looks like I get to be the bigger spoon until your cast is off."

"I'm more than okay with that." Blaine relaxed against Kurt and closed his eyes. "Thank you for taking care of me even if I've been grumpy. Sorry."

"I was a _lot_ grumpier than you, Blaine. You're just frustrated and you're not even being mean. You don't have to apologize to me." Kurt whispered. He re-situated himself, running the palm of his hand up and down Blaine's arm. Blaine wiggled until he was just a little closer and let out a content sigh. "Comfy, babe?"

"Mhmm." Blaine gave a tiny nod and yawned.'m gonna fall 'sleep now."

"Good night." Kurt kissed his shoulder and tightened his arms around Blaine, closing his own eyes.

* * *

"Firstly… Okay I called the police department and they had me call the fire department. They have your phone. I guess one of the people forgot to give it to you. They actually showed up like two hours after you were discharged, go figure. I talked to a fireman there and he said it was safe and to pick it up whenever you're feeling up to it. It's locked away." Alex said the next morning, after of course wishing Kurt a happy birthday.

Blaine yawned behind his hand, sitting at the table with a bowl of half eaten Lucky Charms.

"Second, I've got you set up on a new insurance plan. All you have to do is at some point within the next few months, get a physical done." Alex continued.

"Mmkay." Blaine said, still clearly half asleep.

"I talked to the car insurance. You'll definitely be able to get a new car. She said to just call whenever you're up to it and she'll go over things with you. They'll even go with you to get a new car if you want and have it driven here since your leg is broken. Your car was worth a lot so, of course, you'll have a lot to put towards your new car. Also, she was really sweet and wished you a speedy recovery."

"Aw, she's always so nice." Blaine said adorably, perking up. "I like her."

Kurt came into the kitchen, sitting down and rolling his eyes.

"Fourth, _your hair is… ahahahahaha_!" Alex said, beginning to laugh. "I don't know how I made it to the end of the list before saying something but, seriously, Blaine… _hahahahaha_."

"Hmph." Blaine stood, pushing his cereal aside. His head hurt too much to properly eat anyway and chewing was absolutely killing him. "Fine. C'mon, Kurt. You're going to have to wash my hair."

"Thank you." Kurt mouthed, standing back up and leading Blaine to the bathroom slowly. They could still hear Alex laughing every once in a while when they finally made it in there.

"Hmph. It can't be that—oh, dude. It's like they're mutating into even curlier curls or something. What is this business?" Blaine asked, leaning forward and looking in the mirror. "My hair scares me sometimes, Kurt. And it's probably gross and oily."

"Probably? I think you were in the hospital without a shower for… what, four days? Five? There is no _probably_ about it." Kurt said, glad that he'd styled his hair after his shower but had waited to put on real clothes. He had a feeling he would end up a little wet.

"I don't know how this is going to work. I have a feeling getting on my knees won't be possible." Blaine said, biting his lip and staring at the tub.

"We'll use the sink. It's tall enough." Kurt said. "Let me go and grab a cup, okay?"

"Okay." Blaine sat himself on the closed toilet seat and propped his crutches against the wall, glaring at them.

"After this I want you to lie on the couch, alright? I know you haven't walked too much but I really don't want you to hurt yourself. I can tell you've got a headache but you don't want to say anything because it's my birthday." Kurt said, coming back into the bathroom with a plastic cup.

"The neon green one. Nice choice." Blaine grinned.

"I still don't know why I let you talk me into buying neon plastic cups." Kurt sighed, grabbing Blaine's shampoo and starting the water. "C'mon, babe."

Blaine stood using the sink counter for support and, with Kurt's help, maneuvered himself until he was in front of the bathroom sink. He had to get at a weird angle in order to get to where he needed to be, but somehow he managed. "Next time we're using the kitchen sink."

"Do you want to go there now?"

"No. I'm already here. Let's just get it over with." Blaine said, bending down .more.

Kurt began washing his hair, chatting away. Blaine's attention faded in and out (mainly because of how _good_ Kurt's hands felt) until something caught his attention.

"And they're coming tonight."

" _Who_ is coming tonight?" Blaine asked, unceremoniously moving up and getting water on Kurt.

Kurt blinked a few times in shock and then said, wiping his eyes, "My grandparents."

"Thank God. I thought you said Rachel." Blaine said, leaning back over the counter.

Kurt swatted his shoulder. "She is my _friend_ , Blaine. Let it _go_."

"Okay, okay." Blaine held his hands up in surrender, although he was rolling his eyes.

"I saw that in the mirror, Blaine…. I saw that too… and that." Kurt said, rolling his own eyes.

"I know not what you speak of."

Kurt giggled, dumping a cup of water on Blaine's head as he stood.

"Kurt!" Blaine shouted, laughing.

Kurt began giggling, tossing the cup aside. "You're all done!"

" _Kurt!_ "

"Y-Y-Your face!" Kurt said, grabbing onto the wall to keep himself from falling over. "That was just as much fun the second time as it was last summer!"

"You know what else is fun, Kurt?" Blaine asked.

"Nothing." Kurt giggled.

"Hmph." Blaine reached for his crutches and, after balancing with them, leaned over and ruffled Kurt's perfectly styled hair. "That's fun too!"

Kurt turned the water back on, splashing Blaine. Blaine, in return, messed up Kurt's hair beyond repair. The two wrestled, rather wobbly because of Blaine's crutches, until Kreacher pranced into the bathroom and growled.

Kurt pulled away, giggling. Blaine giggled also, wiping the gel on his hands onto Kurt's—actually, _his_ stolen _—_ shirt sleeve.

"It's a good thing this is yours." Kurt leaned over, kissing him.

"Is it okay if we lay down for a bit?" Blaine asked after a few more seconds of laughing. "I don't feel very good. My head just started hurting worse."

"Of course." Kurt said, mood instantly becoming serious. He walked next to Blaine, arms ready to dart out in case he fell, and led him to the bed.

"I'll wake up soon." Blaine mumbled into his pillow, hugging it.

"Sleep as long as you need to." Kurt said, laying next to him and rubbing his back.

...

"He had poor Kurt scared to death. The doctors had all of us scared, though. The med student was all skittish and made it sound like he was on his deathbed." Blaine heard Burt saying to someone from another room when he woke up. He relaxed against his— _his_ —pillows and felt Kurt's arm tightly wound around his waist.

"But he'll be okay?" This was… but it couldn't be Kurt's grandfather. Then again, they were coming that day so it probably was.

"Oh yeah. He's a strong kid."

"Poor thing was probably terrified when he woke up." That was definitely Kurt's grandmother. Kurt's grandparents were there to visit and they were definitely both in bed, sleeping. If only his grandmother knew he had visitors but was in bed sleeping. Half sleeping.

Blaine startled as Kurt's grip tightened and he let out a tiny groan, showing the first signs of waking up.

"He handled it alright." He heard Carole say as Kurt's hand moved slowly up Blaine's side until it was rested in his hair, running through his curls. "Kurt was there."

"Hopefully he'll feel better in no time." And this was Alex. Which was way too weird, because it was like… Blaine couldn't even finish the thought. He was too asleep. Something about his real family colliding with his new family… type thing… and Blaine just really couldn't focus enough to finish or be coherent.

"Mmmh, Blaine?" Kurt mumbled, voice thick with sleep.

Blaine closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He hadn't slept well the night before and he had been going in and out during their current nap. He knew Kurt was worried about the night before because he'd heard Kurt calling a doctor that morning when he thought Blaine wasn't paying attention. Blaine didn't want Kurt to worry; he wanted him to think he was sleeping.

"Are you awake?" Kurt's arms removed themselves from around him and he sat up. "Honey?"

Blaine didn't answer, but instead tried to maintain even and shallow breaths. Luckily, it seemed to work.

Kurt leaned over, pressing a long kiss to his forehead. "If you ever scare me like this again, Blaine… I love you." he mumbled and then pressed a kiss to Blaine's cheek before crawling out of bed. Blaine heard him putting on real clothes, obviously able to hear his family as well, and exiting the room.

Blaine sat up and stretched, feeling himself smile a bit. He really did love Kurt.

He sat there, just thinking, for about give minutes before Kurt came back into the room quietly humming the new Lady Gaga song. He stopped abruptly when he saw Blaine sitting up, a smile spreading across his face. "You're up!"

"Happy Birthday, Kurt." Blaine smiled. "Again."

"Thank you. Again." Kurt rushed over, kissing him. "Are you ready to get out of bed? Just a warning, my grandparents are here already. I fell asleep too. They've been here about an hour. And there's cake."

"I'm ready. You'll have to help me get dressed." Blaine said.

Kurt nodded and went to their closet, pulling out a t-shirt and some shorts for Blaine.

"Never mind if it's shorts. I think I can manage that." Blaine laughed a bit.

"I figure we'll avoid pants and jeans as long as we can." Kurt kissed the top of his head and waited patiently for Blaine to get himself dressed. "Ready to go?

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded and let Kurt help him out of their bedroom and into the living room, thanking God that they'd gone with a tiny apartment instead of a larger house. The less walking he had to do, the better.

"There they are!" Annie exclaimed as Blaine and Kurt quietly made their way into the living room. "Oh, you poor sweetheart. You two come sit over here. And I want to hug the birthday boy again—even though I know I just saw you."

Kurt laughed, going over and hugging his grandmother.

She smiled and gave him a squeeze. "Blaine, do you need help sitting down?"

"I've gotten very good at that part at least." Blaine joked, sitting himself down between Carole and now Kurt also. Carole ran her fingers through his hair and then squeezed him arm, giving him a smile. "Hi."

"Hey, honey." She smiled at him again.

"We hear that you gave Kurt quite the scare. How are you doing?" Andy asked, leaning forward in the armchair he was sitting in to talk to Blaine.

"It looks worse than it is." Blaine responded, shrugging a bit.

"The bruises have faded a lot." Kurt added. "He's got a concussion, a sprained wrist, and a broken leg. But they let him come home, so he's doing better."

"Blaine did have to beg, though. He wanted to be home for Kurt's birthday." Burt pointed out. "They tried to make him stay last minute but he was very stubborn about it."

"I told him he should stay as long as they wanted him to, but he refused." Kurt sighed a bit, hand on Blaine's thigh.

"They said I would have gotten to come home today or tomorrow anyway. All I was doing was sitting there." Blaine shrugged again. "I'd rather sit somewhere where they don't keep checking my pupils and telling me I'm still breathing. I could figure that one out myself."

Alex snorted loudly while Burt laughed, shaking his head.

"I bet you're glad to be home, though." Annie smiled at him.

"Very glad." Blaine said, leaning against Kurt.

"And I'm sure it's a nice birthday present to Kurt." Annie said, still smiling as Kurt kissed Blaine's still damp hair.

"Alex is going to be staying a few days to help keep an eye on him while Kurt's at the garage. We kind of figured he was going to need more help in the first few days." Carole said.

"And Carole will probably drive up each day for a week, entirely defeating the purpose of the boys actually coming back to Cincinnati too." Burt added. "I told Kurt he could just take off for a while but the kid wouldn't listen."

"Harry quit. You're short staffed and I don't want you stressing yourself into another heart attack." Kurt sighed, for the millionth time. "Even though all of the unhealthy food you've got stored away here _is not helping_."

"I am not a rabbit, Kurt."

"No, because rabbits eat healthy." Kurt retorted, glancing at Blaine who had fallen asleep with his head rested on Kurt's shoulder. He lowered his voice considerably, hoping to not wake Blaine up. "This keeps happening. He's not sleeping normally… he just… falls asleep like this mostly."

"Poor thing." Carole sighed a bit. "I hope he didn't come home too early."

"I think he'll be alright." Alex said. "Sometimes being home helps more than being in a stuffy hospital."

"Hey, where's Melody?" Kurt asked, looking around.

"She's sleeping in the play pen. It's in the kitchen because there were more seats in here." Burt said gruffly. "She's been a wild child for two days. I honestly don't know where she's finding the energy. It's so different from Kurt. He was fairly quiet apart from when he was angry."

"She's just a happy, excitable baby." Carole said and then added, "And also energetic. Her favorite time is bath time, you know? Isn't that strange? Finn hated bath time."

"No." Burt corrected. "Her favorite time is 'let's run around the house naked after my bath while Daddy chases me' time."

Kurt snorted loudly, resulting in Blaine sitting straight up and rubbing his eyes with his good hand.

"Hon, why don't you go and lay down?" Carole whispered, ruffling his short curls.

"Mmmhdon'twanna." He said, half asleep.

"You probably should." Carole said, trying to coax him. "Just for a bit."

"No thanks." Blaine said, leaning back against Kurt.

"Don't overdo it." Andy said from across the table. "If you overdo it, you'll have to go back to the hospital."

Blaine whined into Kurt's shoulder as Kurt wrapped an arm around him.

"You can only stay down here until after pizza and cake." Kurt said firmly. "And then you're either going to lie on the couch or in bed. Okay, Blaine?"

"Puh." Blaine scoffed. "Try and make me go to bed before I'm ready."

"He gives me a hard time when he's not feeling good." Kurt informed everyone. "He was horrible when he had his wisdom teeth out. He goes from this to trying to do too much. Give it five days and we'll be arguing over him moving around too fast."

Blaine heaved a big sigh, as if he was annoyed.

"I know. I'm so hard to live with." Kurt laughed. "Oh so hard."

Blaine just whined again and sat up straight, reaching for the pizza box that was open on the coffee table and pulling out a piece.

"Hey! You're supposed to say I'm not hard to live with!" Kurt said, prodding his back as he leaned over the table.

"You don't like when I lie." Blaine said, looking back and grinning. Finn, who had come in the back way, let out a loud laugh. "Hey, Finn."

"'Sup, dude?" Finn asked. "Hello, Kurt's grandparents."

Carole rolled her eyes. " _Finn_ …"

"Hey, we do know that Melody's playpen is open and empty, right?" Finn asked, ignoring her.

" _Oh my God_!" Carole said, rushing out. Burt followed quickly, muttering that he _knew_ they needed a new one because the baby was too smart for her own good.

"Guess not." Finn shrugged, taking Carole's seat and grabbing some pizza. "Happy Birthday, Kurt."

"Thank you very much, Finn." Kurt said smoothly, standing. "I suppose I should help them find Melody."

"Don't leave me." Blaine said. "Life threatening condition. I could die."

"You'll be okay." Kurt said, leaving the room.

"I'm dying!" Blaine called dramatically.

"He really is!" Finn called.

"Kurt, I'm _dyyyyying_."

"I think Kurt has it wrong. It sounds like these two would be hard to live with." Alex laughed as Kurt came back in, glaring at both younger boys.

"You don't look dead to me."

"'S 'cause you saved me." Blaine said through a mouthful of pizza. "Wif your presence."

Kurt's grandparents laughed as Kurt stalked from the room. Not two minutes later Burt came in, holding Melody out.

"She and Kreacher were under your bed." Carole said to Kurt as she came in behind Burt.

"I didn't know there was enough room down there." Kurt said, looking surprised.

"Of course there is. That's where I banish him to when you're gone." Blaine said instantly.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to this." Kurt sighed. "Sure you don't want to go to Lima with Dad and Carole? It's going to be a constant battle between you two."

"Nah." Blaine gave him an adorable smile. "I want to be with my life partner."

"I think Kurt's reconsidering the life part." Alex joked as Kurt sat down by him.

"No. He's already telling me he wants a ring by his twenty fourth birthday." Blaine snorted, causing Burt to choke on the water he was drinking. "And I think he said kids by… I don't even remember."

"Dude, I am _never_ having kids." Finn said.

"Kid, you're setting yourself up. Just like with the camera. When you say you're not going to do something, it makes it more likely to happen." Burt chuckled.

Kurt took his seat by Blaine again, grabbing his hand and preparing himself for all the questions about school and life that he would without a doubt be getting now that Blaine's accident had been covered.

* * *

"Go."

Kreacher hunched down on the bed, covering his face with his paws.

"I still see you. Go." Blaine repeated, scowling down at the edge of the bed. He sat up as if he was about to stand, which always made Kreacher run off, and Kreacher sprang to his feet. Instead of running off, though, he pranced up to the head of the bed and licked Blaine's arm. "Kreacher, _go_."

The dog did not listen, however. Instead he went back to the edge of the bed and stared at Blaine intensely.

Kurt came in with a plate of food and Kreacher turned, growling at him. Blaine's eyes widened in shock and he blinked at Kurt.

"Oh, silly thing. Blaine is fine." Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "You don't need to watch over him."

Kreacher lowered his head down so that it was rested on the mattress, lying while still watching Blaine.

"How cute." Kurt cooed. "Kreacher is worried a bout you, Blaine. Did he do this yesterday or the day before?"

"No, he's not worried about be and no, he hasn't done this the whole time I've been home. He's just trying to annoy me." Blaine muttered.

"He's clearly worried and being protective of you. This is what he did when I was sick, remember? He didn't leave my side for three whole days when I was in bed." Kurt said.

"Damnit." Blaine mumbled. "You're right."

Kreacher inched forward slowly until he was close enough to rest his head on Blaine's stomach.

"Kurt, take him away."

"C'mon, Kreacher. Blaine doesn't want you." Kurt said, setting the plate down and scooping Kreacher up.

Kreacher let out several whimpers, actually crying—which is something he only did when Blaine withheld treats for bad behavior.

"Fine, fine!" Blaine said, unable to hear a dog cry (which was one reason why Kreacher was gaining weight). "Come here, dumb mutt."

Kreacher licked Blaine's arm happily, snuggling right up to him.

"What, Kurt? I juts don't like animals in pain." Blaine said, avoiding Kurt's eyes.

"Uh-huh. I see." Kurt smirked.

"If I had my own kitten, I could snuggle _it_." Blaine mumbled, pouting. "But you won't let me."

"Oh, God." Kurt shook his head as Blaine scratched behind Kreacher's ears. "We're not discussing this right now, Blaine. We don't have enough room for a kitten."

Blaine picked Kreacher up and made the dog face Kreacher. Kreacher yipped happily, panting. "He wants a kitten friend."

Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head again. "No. He doesn't."

"Blaine wants to discuss it _now_." Blaine said. "And so does Kreacher. Don't you love us— _ack! Kreacher, stop_!"

Kurt laughed loudly and Kreacher began jumping up and down, trying to get to Blaine's hand which he was holding up in the air. "He thinks you've got a treat!"

Blaine scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "A kitten wouldn't attack me, Kurt."

"I just bought you a bunch of fish."

"They can't play with me. You're not even supposed to tap the aquariums." Blaine protested. "C'mon, Kurt. I want a cat. I'm on my death bed."

"You've been home three days, you're doing just fine, and you are no longer at risk for anything." Kurt said slowly. "You should have tried that one on me the day you got back from the hospital."

Blaine stuck his lower lip out. "Please?"

"And they say _I'm_ hard to live with." Kurt said, reaching and ruffling Blaine's hair. "Get ready. We've got to go and get stuff done today."

"You mean you're letting me leave the house?" Blaine exclaimed, eyes lighting up.

"Yes, if you can make it out of bed without killing yourself. I'm going to shower and then we'll leave." Kurt turned and left the room.

"Thanks for the entertainment, Kreacher, but I think this ends our relationship. Don't cry, though. I'm sure we'll see each other around." Blaine said cheerfully, reaching for his crutches. " _Ow! Kurt, he bit me_!"

"Then stop being mean to him!" Kurt shouted from in the bathroom before water started running.

"Next time, stupid dog, I'm letting you cry." Blaine vowed just as he did every time before hobbling out of the room.


	36. Chapter 36

"Are you _sure_ that you want to do this, Blaine?" Kurt asked nearly one week later as he pulled into Blaine's old neighborhood. He had asked about a million times during their drive and in the few days before, but it was getting to the point where they couldn't turn back. It was only fair to give Blaine one last chance to back out before seeing the house that he knew had to be close considering he had started recognizing things. "Because if you don't want to do this…"

"Kurt, I asked to do it. I _want_ to do it." Blaine said slowly from the back seat of Kurt's Navigator. "I just… I need closure."

"We won't stay too long." Alex reassured Kurt. "We don't have to worry about them showing up. We'll just pack up anything he wants and then we'll leave."

"I'm just worried." Kurt said, gripping his steering wheel tightly.

"You have nothing to worry about." Alex promised him. "Right there, the next house."

Kurt pulled onto the curb outside of Blaine's house, putting the car into park. He very vaguely remembered the area from his visit with David's family, but he'd never seen this house up close before. Normally he would have been in shock at the gorgeous and huge house before him, but not today. Today this house represented something that he absolutely hated. This was the place Blaine had been subject to his parents' abuse. Kurt couldn't find it in himself to be intrigued by this house. Not even a little bit.

"Home sweet home." Alex muttered, getting out of the car and opening the back door for Blaine. "If you want to leave, you'll tell us?"

Blaine stared at the house, an odd expression on his face. Finally, he gave a small nod.

Kurt got out of the car and made his way around to help Blaine out. Blaine handed him his crutches and Kurt leaned them against the car before helping ease him out—although he really didn't need as much help as Kurt _insisted_ on giving him.

"I'm fine, Kurt." Blaine said softly, not meeting Kurt's eyes. He was still trying to decide if he really _was_ fine in all honesty. Was he fine to get out of the car and walk up a drive way, yes? Was he ready to face his old house? Part of him really wanted to ask Kurt to just drive back to Cincinnati, to just forget about this. A big part of him.

Kurt sighed a bit and nodded, not liking the fact that Blaine wasn't making eye contact. It made him feel as thought his worrying was justified—like it was too soon for for this or that they weren't doing the right thing. He was afraid Blaine wasn't ready.

"I know. I just want to help." Kurt whispered back, handing Blaine his crutches one at a time. They walked the lengthy distance to the huge house, Kurt helping Blaine up the porch steps and up the final step into the house.

Alex walked on ahead, pulling a set of keys out of his pocket. After unlocking the door, he turned around to face them. "I'll get the empty boxes. I didn't know how much you'd want to take, so I brought a lot. We'll just throw whatever we don't use out, okay?"

Blaine nodded and walked—well, hobbled really—around the entrance hall. Once they made it into the hallway Kurt saw hanging pictures all over the wall of who he assumed was a younger Alex, a younger Blaine (who was positively adorable), and most definitely little Danny.

"I'm surprised they didn't take the ones of me down." Blaine muttered. "Then again, company might question why."

Kurt went up to a school picture of Blaine before Dalton, surveying it carefully. Blaine's hair was curly as ever and his smile bright, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "How old were you?"

Blaine came over. "Freshman year. That was… a few weeks before the dance."

"I like your sweater." Kurt commented, pointing. While the sweater was actually nice, his compliment was more of an attempt to cheer Blaine up. It must have worked at least a tiny bit.

"I liked it too." Blaine flashed him a weak smile.

"Are we just going to your room?"

"I want to go somewhere else first." Blaine said, moving out of the room and down a dimly lit hallway.

Kurt followed, looking at even more pictures on the wall; he assumed most weren't taken by professionals. They were pictures from family vacations or outings, several from different countries it looked like. Kurt knew that Blaine's family traveled a lot, but the amount of places Kurt saw in pictures was a tad ridiculous. Then again, he remembered how much they were worth. Kurt guessed they had the money to spend.

"Are you coming with me?" Blaine called, looking over his shoulder at Kurt.

"Of course." Kurt hurried over.

"It's right in here." Blaine took a right turn, balancing his crutch under his arm and opening a door. They made their way inside and Kurt saw a grand piano. Kurt, who had taken piano lessons since he was young, knew about pianos. It didn't take knowledge about pianos to know this was a nice one—a beautiful, fancy, and nice one.

"Is that a Charles Walter piano?" he gasped, going closer to the piano. "Oh my God, it _is_!"

"Yes, it is. It's mine, too… well, it was mine." Blaine said, coming forward also. "My grandfather left it to me when he died. It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Gorgeous." Kurt nodded earnestly, running his fingers over the keys. "I never thought I'd see one of these in person, let alone touch one. Wow. It's beautiful."

"I know we can't take it… but I just wanted to see it again." Blaine ran his fingers over the keys also, surprised to not find tons of dust. "At least they're taking care of it. They never cared about my interest in music. I'm pretty sure they only let me keep it because it's worth so much money. That must be why they're taking care of it."

Kurt rested his head on Blaine's shoulder. "Maybe one day we can get it back."

"Yeah." Blaine said, not sounding convinced. Both boys straightened up and left the room, going down a long hallway. "My bedroom is at the end. Actually, they were never really even on this side of the house much…"

"This house is very… pretty?" Kurt said, looking around. It most definitely wasn't a lie, but there was something about the house. Everything was strategically placed to be just that, to be pretty. But there were no signs of _life_. There was no real personality, no distinct style…

"Try unlived in." Blaine said, opening his bedroom door and scoffing. "They probably even had it cleaned before we came so it looked better—to show you what a _real_ house looks like. I hate my family."

"I know." Kurt said, following Blaine into the room.

When he made it in and looked around, he was shocked. The walls were navy blue and the trim was dark gray—something he hadn't necessarily pictured Blaine liking. You couldn't actually make out most of the walls, though. There were several pictures of Blaine and the Warblers, and even some of Blaine with what was probably his friends at his old high school. On one wall Kurt could see soccer trophies by the tons on several shelves. There were also academic ribbons hanging down from the shelves (even some for writing, which Kurt made a mental note to ask about later). On the corner nearest Blaine's bed he saw several pictures of him and Blaine. Some were from before they were dating but the majority of them were from after. He was even surprised to see a copy of the one that he himself had had in his locker at McKinley from Kurt's eighteenth birthday, only a slightly smaller one.

"I didn't pick the colors." Blaine said shortly as Kurt stared around, mistaking his curiosity for disgust. "They did it when I was at… camp one summer."

"It's not _bad_." Kurt protested. "Kind of looks like a Ravenclaw room. Are you a Ravenclaw, Blaine?"

Blaine laughed a bit, but it still sounded mostly forced. Kurt wished it was real, but he had a feeling Blaine wouldn't really laugh or smile for several hours after leaving this house.

"Who is that?" Kurt asked curiously, pointing to a picture of Blaine and another guy.

"That's the guy I went to the dance with." Blaine said softly. "I don't know why I even kept the picture. We didn't talk much after that…"

"Why not?" Kurt asked. "You all could have talked about it to each other."

"He didn't want to talk about it." Blaine said, surveying his tall bookshelf that was almost to the ceiling in another corner of his room. "To tell you the truth, I didn't either… We just… I transferred. Someone told me he left too, but he waited until the next school year."

Alex came in, setting several boxes down. "It's very dark in here."

"I think being gay was equivalent to being a vampire to them. They thought I didn't like the light." Blaine muttered. "That or it was easier to hide me in."

Alex stared at him, evidently not having a good response for that.

"What can I pack?" Kurt asked, making his voice cheerful. "Are you taking the trophies? There are so many. You must have been proud of yourself. That's really good."

"I don't want to take them. There's no where to put them." Blaine shrugged.

Alex climbed over the bed, carefully peeling pictures off of the wall. "It's kind of a nice color, I guess."

"I got used to it." Blaine said, pulling his closet door open.

"Are we taking clothes?"

"Probably not." Blaine said. "Not many at least."

" _Oh my God, this is the hugest closet I have ever seen_!" Kurt cried, stepping in. "Oh my God, you have a walk in closet. Oh my God, Blaine, is that—."

"A door to another closet, yes." Blaine laughed, and this one didn't sound quite as fake as the other.

"You can't leave all of these clothes behind. At least _sell_ them or something. Oh my God." Kurt said, going farther back into Blaine's closet. "Oh my _God_. Are you a shoe addict, Blaine?"

"I used to buy two pairs a week." Blaine said truthfully.

"I wish we wore the same size." Kurt let out a loud sigh. "These are fabulous. God, you're obsessed with sweaters and cardigans. Honey, you did some serious shopping therapy, didn't you?"

"Sometimes." Blaine admitted.

"Need a box?" Alex called. "Hey, Blaine, do you want me to take your guitars out to the car?"

"Not the one in the case." Blaine called back. "It was a gift and it's ugly."

"Why don't you sell it?" Alex asked.

"Too lazy!"

"Suit yourself." Alex said, and they heard the door to the bedroom close as he exited with the guitar.

Kurt moved past Blaine, bringing a box in. "I'm grabbing the sweaters and cardigans because come November when it's cold, you'll regret it if you don't take them."

"Fair enough." Blaine said, tossing random stuff into the box.

"Can you think of what all you want to bring home?"

"Yeah, I pretty much know what I want to take." Blaine said, nodding. He left the closet and began setting stuff aside—mostly gifts from Kurt and his friends. He didn't need most of the junk in his room. Hell, he hadn't even wanted most of it to begin with.

Kurt came out. "No shoes?"

"I'm not even going to look or I'll want to take them all."

"I'll handle it." Kurt laughed. "It will be like going shopping. Your closet is _amazing_."

"One day we'll each have one." Blaine promised him, offering a weak smile.

"I hope so." Kurt let out a dreamy sigh and made his way back into the closet.

Blaine had been sorting through stuff for fifteen minutes when Kurt emerged, the box as full as it could possibly get. "I went through your clothes too."

Blaine laughed loudly, and Kurt was happy that it was a _real_ laugh. There was no mistaking it that time. "You went through every single thing, didn't you?"

"Very, very quickly. I know great clothes when I see them." Kurt said, waving his hand. "Are you still looking?"

"I think I'm mostly done." Blaine said, looking up at Kurt because he was sitting on the bed and Kurt was still standing. He opened his arms and, after Kurt stepped into them, leaned forward while wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist.

"I love you." Kurt whispered, leaning down and kissing the top of his head. "So much."

"I know. I love you." Blaine looked up and smiled a bit. "This isn't as hard as I thought it would be…"

"Really?" Kurt asked.

"I mean, it's _sad_ … but maybe I moved on more than I thought I had." Blaine shrugged, and nuzzled Kurt's stomach. "I think it would have been harder if they were here… I'm glad I'm getting the stuff that I wanted, but it's not like I _miss_ this room or the house. Just the important stuff in it."

"It's a gorgeous house." Kurt said softly. "I can't believe you grew up in this _mansion_."

"It's a nice house… it wasn't a nice home." Blaine said, leaning back until he was sitting up straight.

Kurt leaned down again, kissing his forehead. "Are you ready, babe?"

"I think so." Blaine nodded. "I can't carry a box though."

"We'll get them ." Kurt said, bending down to pick one up. "I see you found time to pack an entire large box full of books."

Blaine grinned. "Of course I found time for books. What would I be without them?"

"A lot less frantic at finals time." Kurt responded, picking the box up. "I'll be back for the other one."

"I'll be here." Blaine said, standing himself up and looking at his room again for what would be the last time. Alex had gotten each picture, Blaine was fairly positive he had gotten each item of importance to him packed, Alex had already taken his guitar, and he could really see nothing else he wanted. Then again, maybe that was because everything he wanted was already at his apartment in Cincinnati.

* * *

"It's weird to not have Alex here anymore." Kurt said the next afternoon, sitting on the edge of the couch where Blaine was laying and reading. "I got used to hearing a Danny story every time I walked into the kitchen or living room."

Blaine looked up from his book, sitting up. "Yeah, it is weird… It was weird to have him here too, though."

"So what did he have to say about the money? It seemed like a long discussion." Kurt asked, reaching over and fingering one of Blaine's curls.

"My inheritance lost some money because of the stock marker, but it's not a big deal. I don't really care." Blaine shrugged and scooted up to Kurt after resting his leg on their coffee table.

"You've been pretty quiet since yesterday." Kurt leaned over, kissing him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Blaine said, smiling a bit and leaning his head on Kurt's shoulder. "I've just been thinking a lot about my family, I guess… Well, a certain thing in particular."

"Oh?" Kurt questioned, stroking his hair.

"Being home kind of brought it back to light… and I'd like to talk about it if you don't mind."

Kurt sat up straighter and tucked his leg under him, turning to face Blaine. "Of course I don't mind."

"First, uh… I've never even talked about this before… even with David or Wes, so please don't mention it." Blaine said slowly, biting his lip for a second. He wanted closure? If that was the case, he had to talk about this. While it wasn't something he lost sleep over now, it was most definitely something that bothered him to that point when he was younger. Maybe he didn't particularly _want_ to talk about it, but he needed to… and maybe he kind of _did_ , because it was Kurt. He knew Kurt would understand.

"I won't tell them. I won't tell anyone." Kurt promised, grabbing his hand.

"It's not that serious, but thanks." Blaine laughed a tiny bit and squeezed his hand. It was nice to have that reassurance there all the same. "Remember I told you that when I got kicked out before that it was because my dad found out that I'd been tested for STDs?"

"Yes." Kurt nodded, watching him very carefully.

"The circumstance were slightly different." Blaine admitted, looking guiltily up at him.

"Okay…" Kurt said, sounding confused and trying to not let his imagination run away with him. "How so?"

"Alright, well… okay… I... I had done everything I said. See, I'd had sex with a number of people. I had gotten tested for STDs and my dad found out. It was an explosive fight like I said… but two days later, I got home from playing soccer…" Blaine looked straight ahead, forehead furrowed and not seeing anything in front of him. Instead, it was like a movie of that particular day playing in his head. "Well, after soccer I had gone to Wes' and his mom sent me back with food… and I was going to my room because I stayed in there whenever I was home. It was just more… _comfortable_ that way. But, see, I got home earlier than usual because practice had let out early and I _always_ went to David's or Wes'…"

"Okay." Kurt nodded, squeezing his hand and still watching him intently.

"And my grandma and dad were in his office but the door was open. My house is big, so they didn't hear me coming in… and I was going to my room, and his office is on the way. So…" Blaine trailed off.

"I'm not going to tell anyone." Kurt said softly.

"It's not that. I'm just thinking." Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's hand back. "Anyway, I was going to my room to eat and as I was walking towards his office I could hear them talking. I mean, they always talked in there about the inheritance and stuff, so I normally wouldn't have even thought anything of it but something caught my attention."

"Oh?"

Blaine let go of Kurt's hand and tried to get more comfortable, which resulted in him scooting towards the middle of the couch. Trying to help Blaine get better situated, Kurt scooted towards him and Blaine rested one leg over Kurt's lap, and let the other dangle off the end of the couch.

"Thanks." Blaine offered Kurt another small smile. "But my dad was asking 'how they were going to put it back' and I got really curious… It just didn't sound like any conversation they normally had. The whole thing was just _different_." He said, kind of shrugging.

"What were they talking about?" Kurt asked.

"They were stealing money." Blaine admitted, voice soft. He chewed on his lip, trying not to think back on the events that took place too much.

"From who?"

Blaine took a few seconds to think before speaking again. "They were talking about how they were stealing money from Alex and me… Well, our inheritances. See, when my grandpa died he left grandma in charge of it. She's the only one that can technically get into them."

"I remember you telling me that she had to give you all permission." Kurt nodded.

"They had been dipping into mine and Alex's money ever since Grandpa died, apparently."

"How could you steal from your own children?" Kurt wondered aloud.

"Yeah, well it gets worse than that." Blaine sighed. "I probably stayed outside his office for fifteen or twenty minutes listening to them talk. They just kept going on and on about it… until eventually, they started talking about how they'd been stealing money from the hospital and offices. All of it was for Grandma's campaigns."

Kurt's eyes widened. But really, should he have even been surprised? Probably not. He'd heard enough about Blaine's family to know how they were. "But why were they even talking about it?"

"Because apparently Alex's lawyer wanted to look over something; I'm not sure what. Probably something concerning the will. Now that I think about it, that's about around the time they would have gotten married…" Blaine said absent mindedly, waving his hand a bit. "I don't know the exact reason but they were scared Alex's lawyer would notice the missing money or that he'd see the withdrawal receipts."

"Did you… What did…" Kurt said, not sure what to even say. What _could_ he say?

"I was _pissed_. Whatever about them getting into my money. Like I hadn't expected it, you know? But stealing from a _hospital_ and from the state, Kurt." Blaine said, sounding disgusted. "They were stealing money to help her get elected so they could get more money. I knew that the family was obsessed with money but I never thought they were doing stuff like _that_. Dad is a _doctor_. He should know that hospitals _need_ all the money they get to take care of people! And Grandma thinks she can be any sort of Senator when she's running a corrupt campaign?"

"Oh my God." Kurt said, eyes widening as realization hit him. "But… oh no, Blaine… You said something to him, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't have, but I dropped my plate of food. They heard it, obviously. Once they knew that I knew, it would have been stupid to _not_ say something" Blaine said rather stubbornly.

Kurt covered his mouth, not knowing what had happened but knowing it had to be bad. There was a reason Blaine hadn't told anyone else about this. There had to be more to it and he had a feeling he was about to find out just what else had happened.

"They poked their heads out and you could _tell_ they knew they were busted. I just picked up my mess and walked to my room. I waited, furious and scared and trying to decide what I was going to say. My grandmother left almost immediately after that and my dad came up and we… we got into it worse than before." Blaine said, no longer looking at Kurt but instead off into space. "I was really scared, Kurt, because he… he gets really, really angry… I tried to stand my ground but he yanked me off of my bed by my arm and pushed me into the wall, telling me that I wasn't allowed to breathe a word of what I heard to anyone or he'd make my life a living hell."

He felt Kurt's hand grasped his and he blinked a few times before looking at Kurt before continuing, this time not breaking eye contact. "And so I yelled back that my life was already a living hell… and the fight just… it escalated so fast, Kurt. He kept pulling at me, trying to drag me somewhere, I don't know. But I freaked out and I started to fight back because I didn't know what he was _doing_ and we just kept yelling and yelling. He's bigger than me, you saw, and he managed to get me out into the hall and all the way down it by dragging me as we fought. And he tried to push me down the stairs—I had a different room then, you didn't see that one, this one was by stairs— but I just _know_ he was trying to do something bad… Then he kept yelling how he hated me, how I was a disgrace, how he wished they had aborted me because I was a mistake… just… you know."

Kurt stared at him, his face unreadable and his blue eyes darker than he'd ever seen them. Kurt opened his mouth several times, caught between anger, sadness, and concern. Finally he began to slowly speak. "You are not a disigrace."

"I…I know." Blaine said quietly. "I know."

Kurt leaned forward, pushing their foreheads together. "I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine said, smiling at him.

Kurt kissed him briefly before pulling away and sitting up straight, careful not to jostle Blaine's leg too much. "So he was… physical with you."

"It wasn't like he beat me up or anything." Blaine said quickly. "He was mostly trying to intimidate me… And it worked because I haven't told anyone until now. I was scared of what he would do… When I was fifteen, I was _terrified_ … That's why I never told anyone, Kurt. I knew David or Wes would go to their parents and I didn't want Dad to…" he trailed off. "But I'm not scared anymore. He can't… He can't do anything to me."

"Firstly, Blaine, it doesn't matter if he didn't _leaving a lasting mark_. It matters that one was left at all. That is _physical abuse_." Kurt said, his blue eyes dark with anger. "If he _ever_ lays a hand on you again, I'll—I don't even know what I'll do, but— _ugh_. What a pathetic and lowly piece of _shit_."

"He's not going to touch me again." Blaine said, shaking his head. "I guess I spent so much time when I was younger worrying that he would, though, that it just… I was so scared and that was all that I saw. And I was afraid that everyone would judge me or hate me for knowing and not doing anything… I was _so_ afraid Wes or David would find out and stop being my friend over it. Or that their parents would find out and not let them be my friend anymore… And I worried that he'd pull me out of Dalton and make me go back to my old school… I was just so worried about what he would do because I found out… but he never did anything."

"Nobody would ever judge you for what they did." Kurt said very calmly. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"But when I was fifteen, I felt like I'd done it too because I hadn't told anyone." Blaine explained. "I felt like that put me at fault."

"You were fifteen, Blaine. Nobody would have ever blamed you or thought you did. They took something from _you_ too. You had no control over the situation. None of it was your fault."

"I know that now." Blaine said. "But back then I didn't and that's why I kept it in so long. I felt like a horrible person for keeping it inside but I was too scared to tell anyone. I think being back there made me finally realize that… that I could talk about it, because I'm not a little boy anymore. I can do whatever the hell I want."

"I'm glad you didn't tell anyone back then." Kurt said quietly. "If you'd told the wrong person and your dad found out… It wouldn't have been _safe_ for you to tell anyone. I don't even want to think about all of the things that could have happened to you id you'd told the right person…"

Blaine nodded. "Me neither… I've thought of that a lot too. They hate me, Kurt. I honestly wouldn't put anything past them anymore."

"And she's running for Congress. This is just great." Kurt mumbled.

"She's going to win." Blaine said slowly. "She's going to win and then she'll start stealing money for herself and not the campaign. Who even knows if all of it went to the campaign in the first place?"

"It doesn't even really matter." Kurt said.

Blaine let out a deep breath and looked at Kurt. "You're not worried, are you? Because honestly, what could he even do? You're twenty, not fifteen. He can't control you anymore and I think you've shown him that."

"I'm not worried." Blaine said, shrugging. "I mean, sometimes I find myself reverting back to that mindset where I'm just waiting for this stuff to start happening again, you know? For me to have to answer to them and stuff… I know that's probably silly, but I can't help thinking that way. I guess it's because I lived that way for so long."

Kurt reached behind him, rubbing the small of his back. "Thank you for telling me…"

"Sometimes I do feel bad that I didn't tell anyone… For not doing anything." Blaine admitted. "That's partially why I don't want you to say anything to anyone. It's not that I'm afraid of Dad's reaction but… I just know David and Wes wouldn't be very happy to know I kept something like that from them. It's kind of big, you know?"

"I promise that I'll never tell anyone." Kurt said, staring into his eyes. He leaned over and kissed him before saying, "I'm really glad you told me. Thank you."

Blaine gave him a small smile.

"You did nothing wrong." Kurt continued. "Absolutely nothing wrong. Now it's out in the open and now you— _we're_ going to move on. You have your own phone, your own insurance, your own new amazing car, your own everything. There is _nothing_ tying you to your parents…"

Blaine let out a relieved breath, nodding. "I feel a lot better now that I told someone—told you."

"I'm glad you told me too." Kurt hugged him. "Do you feel like you've got some closure now? Are you okay?"

"Yes." Blaine nodded, feeling as if an invisible weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. It was kind of nice and made him wish he'd told Kurt sooner. "I'm better than okay actually."

Kurt smiled happily before hugging and kissing him again. "I'm so glad to hear you say that, Blaine."

"Me too." Blaine responded, kissing him back and wrapping his arms around Kurt.

* * *

"So what did he say?" Kurt asked a few more days later, looking at his boyfriend as he walked out of a classroom on UK's campus.

"The jerk won't let me hand in stuff online until October when they'll let me drive." Blaine scowled, not even waiting for his professor's door to completely shut. "I'll have to drop his class. It's okay, I heard he sucks anyway."

Kurt snorted loudly and kissed Blaine's cheek. "Was that the last professor you needed to talk to?"

"Yes. I guess I just need to go and tell my adviser and see what she wants me to do." Blaine sighed and started walking towards the exit of the classroom building, towards Patterson Office Tower where his adviser's office was. "I can't believe those two won't even work with me. The first woman could have at _least_ let me switch into her online class. She's just pissed off that I know more about T. S. Eliot than her. Sorry I like to enlighten myself!"

"Your adviser said that you had other options. There's no need to get upset." Kurt said, surprised at how fast Blaine was able to maneuver his crutches now that it had been a few weeks.

"If the stupid professors had _common decency_ I wouldn't have to go redoing my entire schedule plan. This throws off everything that I planned to take until graduation, Kurt. I had it planned out to the last credit hour." Blaine shook his head, coming to a stop outside of a several story tall building. "These elevators better be working today because it's on the twelfth floor."

"I'm sure the elevators are working _fine_." Kurt said soothingly, squeezing his shoulder before holding the heavy door open for him.

"I'm sorry I'm so grumpy. My head hurts, I could barely sleep last night because this cast is making my leg itch like crazy, and I hate feeling like I have to rely on you or feeling like people have to accommodate me because of my stupid leg." Blaine vented, pushing the up arrow on the elevator. "Not to mention, I cannot _believe_ she had the nerve to _fire me over the phone_. Not that I wanted to come back anyway, but excuse me? I'm not _reliable_? Who covered every single time she messed up the schedule, Kurt? How many times did I stay after classes for that place? If they can hold my previous leave of absence against me before the change in management, they should also take into account how many times I've gone in when they were short staffed."

" _Anderson_!" Someone called from down the hall.

"Fuck." Blaine grumbled, not getting on the elevator as it opened. "I do _not_ want to be sociable right now."

"We're getting you sugar first thing when we leave." Kurt said cheerfully, unfazed by Blaine's bad mood. "You must be getting hungry."

"Hey, Josh." Blaine said, putting on a friendly smile when a tall boy in a UK hoodie approached him. "What's up?"

"Advising meeting. I might get to graduate on time still apparently. Why are you—ouch, what happened?" The guy said, surveying Blaine's crutches and cast.

"I got into a small wreck." Blaine shrugged.

"Small?" Kurt echoed.

"Okay. I got into a pretty bad wreck." Blaine corrected himself. "Kurt, this is Josh. We work together in the library—the _nice place_. Josh, this is my boyfriend Kurt."

"Totally thought you just said you were gay to get out of having to take Andrea on a date, but cool." Josh laughed, shaking hands with Kurt.

"Hello." Kurt said, offering a friendly smile.

"Wow." Josh said, clearly surprised.

"You're the first person to be so shocked that I've already told." Blaine said, this time letting out a genuine laugh.

"No, you just don't look—I mean—no, I promise, I'm not one of those rude people." The guy said quickly. "Just antisocial. I don't communicate well obviously."

"It's okay." Blaine laughed, nudging Kurt's arm with his elbow.

"Nice place? Did you finally quit Kennedy's?" The guy asked, looking relieved.

Blaine let out a hollow laugh. "No. They called me last night and fired me for being unreliable."

"Shit. Like they can manage without you and Jacob over there. Let them do it. I'll make sure to get my books from there just to see how horrible the place looks." The guy said. "I take it you're having a bad summer?"

"A bit." Blaine sighed. "I'm trying to rework two classes now or something. Two of my professors won't let me turn stuff in online until October."

"That sucks. But Mary's completely okay with you needing time off on the bright side. She's sending cookies too. Get well cookies." Josh glanced down at his watch. "Speaking of, I better get down there. I'll see you in October?"

"See ya." Blaine waved.

"It was nice to meet you, Chr—Kurt. Kurt?"

"Kurt." Kurt smiled and waved. "You too."

Blaine pushed the button again once his friend was gone. "He's a freshman. Well, I guess a sophomore now. He's a little awkward, but he's nice."

"He seemed very nervous." Kurt said thoughtfully as they got onto the ladder.

"He was a little more so than usual. If you were around him more, he'd chill out." Blaine answered, leaning on Kurt. "This will be a while."

Kurt laughed and stroked his hair. "Am I that intimidating?"

"Nah. But you're confident and he's not." Blaine said. "I'm convinced the only reason he talks to me as much as he does is that I'm shorter than him."

Kurt giggled a bit. "I don't know if you're very intimidating… unless you're mad. When you're really mad, you'd probably even scare someone as tall as Finn."

"Luckily I don't get mad very much." Blaine smiled, hobbling out of the elevator and to his adviser's office.

"Come on in, Blaine. Your friend can come to." Kurt heard a friendly voice say.

Blaine went in with Kurt following behind him.

"Oh, you're on crutches and everything." The petite older woman asked, shaking her head. "Does it hurt?"

"Off and on." Blaine said, easing himself into a chair.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Did you get to talk to all of your teachers?"

"Yeah." Blaine sighed. "Krebbs and Parker won't let me submit stuff online."

"Well I looked and Professor Krebbs has an online section as well. It _is_ full, but—."

"I asked." Blaine sighed again. "She said she _couldn't allow it_. So I guess I just have to move a lot of stuff around."

"I'd suggest dropping both. Then, find one class online to take as an elective." The woman said.

"Won't dropping one put me behind?" Blaine asked.

"No, sweetheart." She shook her head and pulled something up on the screen, pointing at his transcript. "You're caught up to the point where you need to be. You don't need to worry about making credits up. If the other professors are going to let you submit stuff until you can make it to classes, and you sign up for an online elective, you will not fall behind."

"And I'll be able to graduate on time? As if I hadn't missed a semester?" Blaine asked for clarification.

"I would be worried if you weren't a good student, but I don't see you failing any classes or having to withdraw. You're an excellent student, you're _ahead_ of where you need to be if anything, and I think you worry too much." She said, smiling at him. "Here is a list of online classes that still have seats available for you to choose from. If you pick one, I'll go ahead and override it in the computer so you won't have to worry about waiting for your window to re-open."

"Thanks." Blaine let out a relieved sigh, taking the paper from her and looking it over. "You're sure?"

" _Yes_." She said kindly as Kurt laughed. "I triple checked. Your credits are just fine."

"Okay." Blaine said, circling a class and handing it to her.

"Good boy." She smiled, pulling out her keyboard and going into Blaine's schedule. "So we're dropping Krebbs and Parker?"

"Yes ma'am." Blaine nodded, watching her.

"The good news is both of those classes are offered every semester so you'll have no problem catching them next time." She said as she dropped the classes. "This puts you with five campus classes and one with the distance learning program. The online class will add a $90 fee to your tuition. I don't know if you're tuition is paid for in full already or not, but make sure you don't forget about that or they'll hit you with the interest charges."

"Alright." Blaine nodded, mentally reminding himself to write that down when he got in the car. "Am I done?"

"Just sign this for me regarding the schedule change." She slid another paper to him after writing the changes down. "And then you are done."

Blaine scribbled his signature and passed it back before standing. "Thank you so much, Mrs. O'Day."

"No problem, sweetheart. You just get to feeling better and be careful when you're driving again."

Blaine smiled. "I'll try. Have a good day."

"You too. Bye." She waved as they left.

"She's a lot nicer than _my_ adviser." Kurt whispered as the door closed.

"She's been advising here for over fifty years." Blaine whispered back. "She's very nice and she knows all the ins and outs about what classes are good and stuff. The adviser I had when I was a freshman was _horrible_."

"Did you ask to be switched?" Kurt asked curiously.

"No. They just change you after you get so many hours. The first one was a general counselor for the Arts and Sciences College, but she focuses on English." Blaine said.

"Ah." Kurt said, taking his phone out. "Hey, Dad… Yeah… We'll try, but we're out at UK and I don't think Blaine's feeling too great…"

Blaine held the elevator door open for Kurt, looking at him curiously.

"Babe, do you want to go to Lima for dinner tonight?"

"What is Carole making?" Blaine asked, and heard Burt laugh loudly on the other end of the phone.

"Does it matter?" Kurt asked, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know." Blaine shrugged. "Do you want to drive all the way there and all the way back to Cincinnati in one day? You're the one that has to drive."

"Well can we spend the night?" Kurt asked.

"We need to feed the dog and fish."

"The dog and fish are taken care of."

"How are they taken ca—something's going on here." Blaine said. "Isn't there?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kurt said innocently. "Yes, Dad, we'll be there in about four hours."

"Four hours? Traffic isn't bad. At the rate you drive, it'll probably be three." Blaine said as Kurt hung up.

"Oh, I think it'll be more towards four." Kurt said.

"Something is totally going on but my head hurts too much to worry." Blaine said, getting into the back seat of Kurt's car. "I could do less than two hours up there but I don't think I can sit with my leg that way all the way to Lima. Sorry."

"It's okay." Kurt smiled at him and gently closed the door before climbing into the car as well. "Do you feel better now that everything is sorted out?"

"Mhmm." Blaine said leaning his head against the window and closing his eyes. "Are you going to be upset if I take a nap?"

"Not at all." Kurt said, starting his car. "As long as you can get me to I-75 before you do."

"Oh yeah." Blaine sat himself up straighter and opened his eyes. "Take Limestone, turn left by Kennedy's, and follow it up until it turns to Nicholasville. Right on New Circle, it'll take you to the highway."

Kurt blinked several times, clearly not having understood a word of what Blaine said. "Never mind. Take your nap. I'll use the GPS on my phone."

"You're a wonderful, beautiful man." Blaine said, leaning back down.

"Just remember that the next time I punch you in the nose in my sleep."

…

"You doing okay, bud?"

Blaine rubbed sleep from his eyes as he sat on the couch two hours later, nodding.

"They took him off the medicine." Kurt said quietly, going up and hugging his dad. "Hello."

Burt hugged him back and said, rather cheerfully, "Are you having a good day, Blaine?"

"Uhm… I've had better." Blaine said, not in the mood to even lie.

"We're not in a great mood." Kurt ruffled his hair, beaming. "But we're about to be in a much better one."

"Are we?" Blaine asked, his eyebrow shooting up. "Why's that? Did you make potato candy?"

"It's no where near the holidays!" Kurt exclaimed. "It's a _holiday treat_."

"I was under the impression that Blaine Anderson Day was tomorrow."

"I think you'll like it better than candy, Blaine." Burt said, laughing.

"It's the gift that keeps giving." Kurt added.

"There are a lot of comments I could make that I won't." Blaine mumbled quietly enough so Kurt could make out every word but Burt could only hear mumbling.

Kurt clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and then shot him a playful glare. "Be nice or you don't get the surprise."

Blaine plastered a smile to his face. "Can I have my surprise?"

"I think Melody's got it right now, so you might want to hobble over that way." Burt pointed towards the kitchen.

"I like presents." Blaine said, clearly getting excited. Which was a definite improvement over him being grumpy in Kurt's opinion. "Okay, can I go, Kurt? Can I?"

"Yes." Kurt laughed. "I'm coming with you, though. I have to see your facial expression when you see it."

Blaine went into the kitchen quickly and saw Melody and Carole in the corner, crouching down. Melody kept cooing nonsense and flailing her little hands excitedly.

"What is i— _oh my God, it's a kitten!"_ Blaine exclaimed.

"That is what we call success." Kurt beamed, feeling proud of himself. He couldn't tell if he was proud enough for getting Blaine the kitten or pulling it off without Blaine finding out. He'd been sure Blaine would have caught on, but luckily he hadn't.

"Melody got a kitten!" Blaine said, tossing his crutches aside and sitting on the floor to pet the kitten.

"Uh…" Kurt said, looking surprised. He wasn't expecting _this_. Blaine was supposed to know it was… well, _his_.

"Melody didn't get a kitten." Carole laughed.

"Well who did? Are you babysitting it? It's so cute. Can I hold it?"

"Blaine, it's _yours_." Kurt said.

Blaine's mouth fell open and he stared up at Kurt, hazel eyes wide. "You got me a kitten?"

"Well, Dad picked it up. But yes. I got you a kitten." Kurt nodded.

" _I got a kitten_?" Blaine asked slowly.

"Yes." Kurt said back, just as slowly. "You get a kitten."

"But the apartment—it's too small—and they don't even like that we have Kreacher—." Blaine said, picking the kitten up. Melody scowled and climbed onto his lap, trying to pet it again. "Oh. Sorry, pumpkin."

Melody plopped down and reached for the kitten.

"You have to be very careful, baby." Carole said as Blaine sat the tiny kitten in her lap. "Pet it like we were."

Melody giggled loudly and pet the kitten with Blaine's help.

"But, Kurt, are you sure?" Blaine asked, looking at him while helping Melody.

" _Yes_." Kurt said. " _Yes, yes, and yes_."

"Oh my God, I get a kitten!" Blaine exclaimed, prompting loud shrieks from Melody. "We're taking it home?"

"Well we aren't leaving it here." Kurt bent down and pet the kitten before tickling Melody's tummy. "Hey, Mellie!"

"Bub bub bub!" Melody shrieked, reaching up.

Blaine took the kitten, looking positively thrilled, as Kurt scooped his little sister up. "Say _Kurt_. _Kurt_."

"Bub." Melody said, a very serious expression on her face.

" _Kurt_. Kurt."

Melody made a "k" sound and tried to hide behind her tiny hand.

" _Kurt_."

"K-K—Bub!"

Kurt hung his head. "She'll say Bay. Why not even a Kur? Can I get _Kur_?"

"It's just easier for her to make that B sound." Carole said, hugging him. "Give her time. She's trying."

"K-K-Bubbbb!" Melody repeated, tugging on the neckline of Kurt's shirt.

"We do not do that." Kurt said, very seriously. "We don't pull at people's clothes, Mellie. You don't want to stretch it."

Melody sneezed and then wiped her snotty nose on Kurt's shoulder. "Bub!"

"Kurt must really love you, Melody." Blaine said cheerfully from the ground as Kurt stared ahead in horror. "If anyone else got anything on his clothes, he'd have killed them by now. Even something less disgusting that snot."

"I do love her." Kurt said finally, as Melody smiled up at him adorably. "But would anyone make fun of me if I put my shirt in the washer?"

"Yes." Burt said from the kitchen table where he was now sitting.

"Go on, hon." Carole laughed, taking Melody.

"Bub! Bub!" she said, beginning to cry.

"Oh, you can come with me." Kurt took her back. "You can help me find a shirt that is still here that doesn't need to be Melody proof."

Melody instantly quit crying, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

"You just have all of the boys wrapped around your little finger, don't you?" Carole said, kissing her cheek.

"At least I'm not as bad as Dad." Kurt said, glancing at Blaine who was still in the same position on the floor and letting the kitten crawl all over him. "I don't know if this was a good idea. He mat never pay attention to me again—Melody, gross, are you putting your hands in your snot?"

Melody blinked at him with big eyes.

"I guess we'll be right back." Kurt said, going up the stairs and into his old room. He set Melody on the bed and went to his closet, pulling out two shirts and holding them up. "This one? Or this one?"

Melody grabbed her foot, paying no attention to him.

"Melody," Kurt sang as he came up to the bed, now only in an under shirt. "What shirt do you like?"

Melody blinked at him, letting go of her foot.

"This one? Or this one?" Kurt asked, alternatively holding up a purple and a black shirt. "This one? Or this one?"

Melody crawled over, touching the purple one.

"Excellent choice!" Kurt set both on the bed and clapped. "Good job!"

Melody clapped also, giggling.

"I should bring you home with me. I can barely get Blaine to help me pick out clothes." Kurt said, tickling her belly. "He doesn't offer much feedback. He used to dress so nice and now I can't get him into his old clothes unless we're going _out_. It's those dumb UK blue shirts. They're causing a rift in our relationship."

"Uh oh!" she giggled.

"Uh oh is right!" Kurt pulled on the shirt and buttoned it up saying, "Did you know this is a _button_?"

Melody clapped her hands together.

"Let's go find Mommy." Kurt scooped her up and took her downstairs. "There's Mommy. Say 'hi mommy!'"

"Mama!" Melody waved, but quickly buried her face in Kurt's shoulder.

"That's her saying she doesn't want you to put her down, hon." Carole laughed. "I've almost got dinner done."

"Is Blaine still in the corner with the kitten?" Kurt asked, bouncing Melody up and down.

"Yes. Suffice it to say, I think he's in a better mood." Carole bent down and kissed Melody's cheek again. "Are you hungry, sweetie?"

"Bub." Melody said loudly, nuzzling Kurt.

"I guess I'll be feeding her too." Kurt let out a mock sigh, snuggling her close. "If I _have_ to. Although I'm pretty sure she's being extra affectionate because she's jealous of Blaine's kitten."

Melody reached up, grabbing his nose and giving him a look that clearly said, "Pay attention to me."

"Okay, you little beggar! Sometimes I think it's you and Blaine that should be related." Kurt laughed, sitting down. "Your big brother will put eating his own dinner on hold so you can have your mashed potatoes. Don't you feel loved? I doubt Blaine would do that for you. He's like a garbage disposal for food."

"Is it a wise idea to let Melody start eating them first?" Burt asked gruffly. "She might get mad that other people are eating some."

"Oh, she's going to get mad either way." Carole sighed, getting a small bowl of mashed potatoes and one of Melody's little spoon. "She's not mastered the art of sharing. She thinks anything she likes is hers and hers alone. Luckily she forgets she's upset about a minute later, but I'll be glad when the phase is over."

"Are you gonna let me feed you or are you going to be messy?" Kurt asked, getting some mashed potatoes on the spoon.

Melody's eyes widened and she reached for the spoon eagerly.

"I don't know about that." Kurt said warily, glancing at Carole as he put Melody in her highchair.

"Here, Melody!" Carole said, handing Melody a second spoon. "Let her hold this one, but feed her with that one. If you give her that one, you'll never get it back."

Melody waved the spoon happily and opened her mouth.

Kurt began feeding her, realizing that it was very amusing to do so because Melody went back and forth between playing with the spoon and opening her mouth wide, looking at Kurt expectantly. "Does it always take this long?"

"Yes. It does." Carole laughed. "Blaine, hon, are you hungry?"

"I'm kind of stuck." Blaine said, pouting.

Kurt giggled and fed Melody some more mashed potatoes. "I told you to quit sitting on the floor. What happens when you do that and you're alone? You'll be stuck."

"You could get up if you tried." Carole added. "You don't have a full leg cast."

"That requires work, Carole." Kurt giggled as Melody tried to feed Kurt with her empty spoon. "Invisible food is my favorite! Thank you, sweetie!"

Melody giggled and took another bite of mashed potatoes before waving his hand away.

"All done?" Kurt cooed. "Can I eat now?"

Melody kicked her feet out in response. "Bay!"

"What, pumpkin?" Blaine asked, trying to get himself up. "This is _not working_."

"Do you need some help, hon?" Carole asked as the little kitten padded under the table at Burt's feet.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Kurt sighed teasingly and went to help Blaine up. "What would you do without me?"

"Be a lot fatter." Blaine responded, taking his crutches and moving to the table.

"He acts like I starve him."

"If you make him eat the crap you make me eat, then you are." Burt said gruffly. "How is that 'diet' going?"

"Pfft." Blaine said, sitting down. "It didn't. He can't put me on a diet."

"It's for your own well being." Kurt sighed, taking a seat.

"If you say so." Blaine said as Melody threw her spoon at him, shrieking loudly. "This house will never be quite again, will it?"

"Probably not." Carole sighed. "Probably not."

…

" _Blaine! Finn! What do you think you're_ doing _?"_ Kurt shrieked, coming into the living room and staring at Blaine and Finn who were in the middle of a sword fight with Blaine's crutches.

"Chill, dude. We're just goofing around." Finn said as Blaine smacked their crutches together.

" _Blaine_! What if you break them?"

"I'll get new ones?" Blaine asked, blocking Finn's lunge.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Kurt said, beyond shocked that he had to deal with something like this. They were both twenty years old. Wasn't that too old to act like they were five?

"Ha! Point for me!" Blaine cheered.

"Damn, I wasn't paying attention. What's the score now?" Finn whined.

"12 to 8." Blaine said.

"And how long have you two been in here fighting with medical utensils exactly?" Kurt snapped.

"How long was your dumb show?" Finn asked.

"It's such a _dumb_ show. Oh my God. There's hardly any room for anything else on our DVR." Blaine said, looking exasperated.

"Carole and I can't watch a show without you two coming and acting like mischievous little boys?"

"Sorry, mommy." Blaine giggled. "But can you move away so we can finish? I don't want you to get hit."

"Oh, someone's about to get hit." Kurt threatened. "In the face. With a crutch. And that would be you. If Finn is as bad at that as he is dancing, this is a _really_ bad idea."

Blaine looked thoughtful and then shrugged. "I've got new insurance and if he hits my nose, maybe I'll have to get plastic surgery on it. I don't like it very much."

"Why are all of the men in my life crazy?" Kurt sighed, sinking onto the couch and crossing his arms over his chest. "Blaine, you're going to get hurt."

"Calm down. I'm a trained professional. I've been doing this for an entire hour." Blaine said, giving him an adorable smirk.

"Blaine, please. For me?"

"Why'd you have to go do that?" Finn said, looking genuinely displeased. "You know he can't say 'no' when you pull that. I _hate_ when Rachel does it."

"He does it _all the time_." Blaine rolled his eyes, taking his crutch from Finn. "But you can't say no because then you open a whole new can of worms."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Why do you two pick at me?"

"'Cause we love you." Finn grinned goofily.

"And you're an easy target." Blaine added, taking a step towards him and stumbling.

" _Are you okay_?" Kurt gasped, jumping up.

Blaine began giggling and nodded.

"Did you do that on purpose?" Kurt asked slowly as Carole walked in.

"Maybe. But you can't yell at me because the nice lady is in the room." Blaine said as he smiled sweetly in Carole's direction.

"Are they acting up, Kurt?" Carole laughed, going and hugging Finn.

"Yes. They're acting like children." Kurt sighed.

"Oh, you know that Blaine is just a big kid." Carole said. "Aren't you, hon?"

"Sure am." Blaine said, moving next to Kurt and stumbling again.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked hurriedly.

"This is going to be so much fun." Blaine laughed loudly as he sat down by him.

"Blaine!" Kurt said, punching his arm gently. "Stop!"

"That was spousal abuse, Kurt." Blaine said, a very solemn expression on his face.

"Not until we're married, it isn't." Kurt shot back.

"Then it's harassment." Blaine leaned over, resting his head on Kurt's shoulder.

"I take it we're staying the night?" Kurt asked.

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded, closing his eyes.

"He wore himself out." Carole laughed, shaking her head.

"No. I just have a headache." Blaine shrugged, nuzzling Kurt.

"It wouldn't be as bad if you hadn't been _roughhousing like a little boy_." Kurt sang as he ran his fingers through Blaine's hair.

"Mmmh." Blaine shrugged.

"I think I'll get him upstairs before he actually falls asleep down here." Kurt said, easing Blaine up.

"Will he be able to get up them?" Carole asked worriedly.

"Yeah. We'll just go slow." Kurt said. "Ready, Blaine?"

"G'night." Blaine waved and walked, with a lot of help and patience from Kurt, to their bedroom—because clearly they were at the point of it being _their_ bedroom now.

"It's always so weird to sleep in here, isn't it?" Kurt said as Blaine plopped onto the bed. "Blaine?"

Blaine grunted into Kurt's pillow.

"Are you already asleep?" Kurt asked, staring at him in shock.

"Mhmm." Blaine mumbled, nodding a tiny bit.

Kurt went over, putting Blaine's cell phone down on the bed next to him. "I'm going downstairs. If you need anything, text or call me, okay?"

"Text or call. Got it." Blaine echoed, pulling the pillow over his head to ward off anymore conversation.

"Clearly I'm not wanted." Kurt laughed and left the room, eager to find their adorable new kitten which had yet to be named. While Blaine may have hated Kurt's dog, Kurt was determined to be the exact opposite with Blaine's little kitten.

* * *

Three weeks later Kurt came into their apartment, dropping his messenger bag on the floor and plopping down next to Blaine on the couch. "Oh my God, they're so cute! Look at Kreacher and Oreo!"

Blaine looked up from his Henry James anthology and smiled, watching Oreo paw at Kreacher who was simply uninterested.

"Oreo just wants to be friends and he's not having it." Kurt said. "Kreacher's still mad at us. He won't even lay on your feet anymore."

"Good." Blaine said smugly. "He should leave me alone always. I hope it stays this way."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You've got an adorable kitten. Don't you think you can at least admit that you like my dog? Even to _me_? I am the love of your life after all."

"You cannot be trusted with valuable information of that sort." Blaine snorted. "Only felony-type issues, but never anything else."

Kurt let out a quiet laugh and leaned over, resting his head on Blaine's shoulder. "How's the essay coming?"

"I don't know... I'll get done backing up some point before I realize the point has nothing to do with the topic. It's this new painkiller they're making me take for the headaches. I know it is. It's like I can't think straight or something."

"The dosage isn't that high." Kurt said, grabbing his laptop and moving it onto the couch. "I want to have sex tonight, just so you know."

"Sorry, I've got plans with my other boyfriend." Blaine said, looking down and smirking at him.

"The tall blonde one?"

"No, that's _your_ other boyfriend."

"Ah. Yeah, he's got nice straight hair." Kurt said thoughtfully, nodding.

"I hate you so much." Blaine giggled as Oreo pounced onto Kreacher's back. "You and your dumb dog."

"But you don't really hate me, and by grouping Kreacher and I in the same category like that, you just admitted your love for him."

"Puh!" Blaine rolled his eyes. " _Puh_ , I say."

"Honey, you need to take a break from the old books for a day or two. You're starting to sound like a poorly written literature book."

"Henry James was gay." Blaine said. "I bet you didn't know that."

"I did not know that. His sexuality doesn't make me think his books would be any less boring though. Sorry." Kurt admitted, shrugging. "I don't think we'll ever be able to have long and insightful chats about literature."

"That's alright." Blaine sighed. "I think I'll still like you a bit."

"Alright." Kurt sat up straight and clapped his hands together. "I know soon you'll be starting a pity party because you couldn't go with David and Wes to whatever that thing was-no, please don't try to explain it again. You've tried five times. Clearly something isn't clicking between us on the matter"

Blaine, who had opened his mouth, closed it and shrugged.

"I'm going to invite Alec over for dinner. His boyfriend is in town. You need social interaction, Blaine. You aren't even getting it at work and between classes anymore.. You _need_ to talk, Blaine. It's what you do. In fact, I think the lack of communication with the outside world may literally be driving you crazy

"Why do you say that?" Blaine asked, looking offended.

"I heard you singing Gaga the other day. Something is very, very wrong."

"You did not!" Blaine gasped. "I was merely repeating the lyrics and saying how much they suck."

"You were very much repeating the lyrics _to a tune_ when the song wasn't playing?" Kurt accused. "And I didn't hear any negative muttering out of your mouth following your performance."

Blaine glowered. "Fine. I was singing Lady Gaga. What if I like her now?"

"You will never like Gaga just like I will never like those hideous UK blue t-shirts that you insist on owning by the dozen." Kurt said shortly. "See, Blaine? You need social interaction. And you even admitted that Alec was nice. Can I call him?"

"It's Friday night. Why don't we just go to Lima?" Blaine questioned.

"I don't want to feel boxed into going every weekend. Plus, these last three Fridays not going were kind of nice... I mean, we're still seeing them. But I'm not six anymore. I need to start doing stuff for me. Don't you think?"

"It would be social interaction is all I'm saying." Blaine shrugged, not seeing why Kurt had to invite his friend over. It wasn't that Blaine hated him anymore…. he just didn't know him and Blaine didn't particularly feel like being placed into an awkward situation.

"Can I? We don't have _any_ other gay friends. This could be good for us." Kurt said.

"Why do we need _gay_ friends? Aren't you being discriminatory against the vast majority of straights in the world?" Blaine snorted.

"Can I call him or not, Blaine?"

"Fine, fine." Blaine heaved a big sigh, watching Kreacher prance into the room and Oreo pad after him eagerly, oblivious to the fact that she wasn't wanted.

Kurt clapped his hands together excitedly and pulled out his phone. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is going to be awesome. We're going to have gay friends! Well, Alec and I are already friends but-"

"Yes, yes, I know." Blaine said, standing. "I guess this means I have to shower."

"You seriously haven't showered since yesterday morning, Blaine? That's gross." Kurt said, looking disgusted.

"Sorry I don't like wrapping my entire leg up. Some sacrifices are being made. It's not like I see anyone but you anyway." Blaine laughed and made his way to the bathroom, dramatically balancing and swinging on his crutches when Kurt wasn't looking.

"I saw that in the TV, Blaine." Kurt called before saying, in a cheerful voice, "Hey, Alec!"

"I need to stop doing these things in places where he sees my reflection." Blaine mumbled to himself before closing the bathroom door.

…

"Your apartment looks _so_ much better than mine. Now I'm embarrassed." Blaine heard Alec say from the other room an hour and a half later.

"Go." Blaine sighed, pointing at Kreacher's cage.

Kreacher growled a bit, standing his ground.

" _Go_." Blaine repeated. "If you want a treat, you'll go."

Kreacher made a lunge for the living room.

"Get back here, you cretin! I can't chase you!" Blaine called.

Kreacher stopped mid step and turned around slowly, crouching down low.

"Get over here!" Blaine said, pointing. "Now."

"Kreacher, get in the cage!" Kurt called from the other room.

Kreacher walked over slowly, tail between his legs, and sat down in his cage.

"He listened to you! How did you get him to do that?" Blaine called.

"Admit you like him and I'll tell you." Kurt said, coming into the living room with Alec and a guy that had to have been his boyfriend. He had seen Alec before of course, but he'd never seen the other guy. He was as tall as Alec but had light brown hair and brown eyes. He also dressed… professionally, Blaine wanted to say? Despite the fact that they had completely different wardrobes, Blaine had to admit that they made a cute couple. (Not as cute as Kurt and he did, of course, but that was a given.)

"Never." Blaine scoffed, nudging the cage door closed with his foot.

"This would be my boyfriend Blaine. He has a love-hate relationship with my dog. I thought getting him a cat would help but it didn't do a thing. Now I think the rivalry is worse, actually"

"Hi, Blaine." Alec waved. "How's your leg doing?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore." Blaine said, waving back. "I get it off in three weeks."

" _Maybe_." Kurt added.

"Yeah. Doctors like to be annoying and lie about stuff." Blaine mumbled, causing Alec to burst into laughter and Kurt to shake his head. "What'd I say?"

"I'm in medical school." The other guy said, looking amused as opposed to upset.

Blaine gave a nervous sort of giggle. "Oh… Uh… Yeah."

"It's okay. His parents say the same thing." Alec laughed.

"Actually they call them liars and cheats." The guy corrected.

"Kurt, you're supposed to tell me these things so I don't look dumb!" Blaine whined.

"I told you." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I did too." Alec said. "When Kurt was sick."

"I also told you his name, but I bet you can't remember." Kurt laughed.

"Er… _in_?"

"Eric." The guy, Eric, said.

"I knew it! But then I didn't think I was right because Alec—aw, Eric and Alec. That's so—."

"Cute." Alec and Eric said together. "We know."

"I was going to cook but Blaine kept whining for my attention, so we ordered pizza instead." Kurt said as Blaine sat at the table.

"You've got to drop a class and get into this class with me, Kurt, or I'm going to kill myself." Alec said as he sat down with Eric and Kurt, them all joining Blaine at the table.

"You say that about one class every semester." Eric said, pulling out his phone.

"No." Alec grabbed it and pocketed it. "You're addicted and you need to seek treatment. You touch this thing more than you touch _me_."

"That is a serious exaggeration, Alec." Eric rolled his eyes.

" _Anyway_ ," Alec said, shooting him a look. "Stop that, Eric."

"What?" Eric asked, blinking innocently.

"You're about to lean over and 'discretely' tell Blaine I'm annoying."

"I'm not afraid if you hear me say it." Eric joked. "And actually I was going to say that you think you're my mother."

"No. If your mother knew you were so addicted to this thing, she'd break your thumbs."

"So this is what it's like when people watch us bicker." Kurt laughed.

"Hey, you should tell him about your friend. He wants to go to law school… right?" Alec asked.

"I'm going to try to get in." Blaine nodded.

"Where do you want to go?" Eric asked eagerly. "My best friend goes to Yale. What do you want to go for? What type of law? He's in it for legal writing mainly."

"I hadn't really put a lot of thought into where exactly I want to go since I can't start applying until this summer." Blaine admitted. "And I'd like to specialize in civil rights or criminal law."

"From what I've heard, if you do civil rights its best to have another specialty too because it's hard to get paying jobs with civil rights. Most of it's nonprofit or something. So you should try to go for both." Eric said thoughtfully. "Well, that's what I understood at least. I can give you my friend's name and you can look him up on Facebook if you've got any questions."

"Does he like law school?" Blaine asked, very interested. He'd never gotten the opportunity to talk to someone who knew about it. Maybe he could talk to Eric and be less confused about… well, a lot of the whole thing, really. His adviser only knew so much and he'd been too busy to set up an appointment with some of the pre-law professors at UK.

"He _loves_ it." Eric nodded. "It's a lot of work, though. There's some downtime but when exams comes up, you basically have no life. It's really demanding to. An A minus is highly frowned upon, so you've got to be really dedicated and put your all into it. The professors are intense too, but the people teaching you are the ones who do it every day. There are very few people who _just_ teach law."

"But he really likes it?"

" _Loves_ it. It's what he's interested in. If you're in it for the right reasons, then you'll love it too. But it's three years of working your ass off. It's expensive, but if you go to a better school you'll probably have a job before you even graduate, so it's well worth it." Eric said, and then added, "And apparently law school kids throw _amazing_ parties after midterms and finals, so there's always that to look forward to after a week of hell."

"Don't tell him that." Kurt gasped. "Blaine, you didn't hear it. That was a side effect from your medicine. You're hearing things."

Eric laughed. "I take it you like to party?"

"You take it he has no self control." Kurt corrected. "Especially when his friends are in the picture."

"That sounds like someone I know." Eric said, glancing at Alec.

" _Letitgo_." Alec said, leaving no pauses between his words. "It's okay, Eric. Let it go."

"How many hours did I drive to pick you up?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Two and a half hours."

"Before what?"

"A huge exam."

"Alright. Just wanted to see if you remembered how much I love you."

"Like you didn't drink in college." Alec said, rolling his eyes again.

"I didn't call you sobbing saying I'd lost my phone. Which I was speaking into."

"Please don't ever do that to me." Kurt said, looking Blaine in the eyes. "You don't want to give me that kind of ammunition."

"No! You don't!" Alec exclaimed, laughing. "Because Kurt will bring it up every damn time you go out in public!"

"I don't think he's a big crier though." Kurt said. "He just proposes."

"Oh my God." Blaine covered his face. "I did not."

"You proposed." Kurt repeated. "Whether or not you choose to believe it."

"Aww." Alec said. "That's really cute. What did you say, Kurt?"

"I said okay." Kurt laughed.

" _Awww_!"

"Well I wasn't going to tell him no! But he figured that much out on his own." Kurt reached over and ruffled Blaine's hair.

"Why is my life so embarrassing?" Blaine asked.

"Because you allow yourself to become drunk." Eric answered.

"You're an English major. Let's write a book." Alec said. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we have enough material. Only I'll have to record a tape for you and send it to you, because I'll be dead… unless Kurt drops a class and signs up Electronic Illustration Techniques."

"I thought it was Retail Concepts."

"Join that one too." Alec said, covering his f ace with his hands. "I'm going to die."

"You're such a baby." Eric shook his head.

"I don't really like my section for Construction Techniques… what time are they offered?"

Alec sat up quickly. "Are you for real?"

"You cannot make him change his schedule around because you don't want to be in a class alone."

"Kurt, Zach is the only other guy in the class." Alec said very seriously. "I'll name my firstborn child after you."

"Oh my God." Eric shook his head again. "He's serious."

"Tuesdays and Thursdays at eight." Alec said. "It's in the same building as the class we've got together. The last day to add is tomorrow. And come on, there is _nothing_ good on television on Tuesday and Thursday nights."

"I can probably add it o—never mind." Kurt trailed off, seeing the look on Blaine's face. "I'll drop the other class and sign up for it."

"Thank God." Alec said, letting out a relieved sigh.

"You should be ashamed of yourself." Eric laughed. "Kurt, you can tell him no. He'll whine for a bit, but he'll eventually stop."

"Pizza's here!" Kurt said eagerly as the doorbell rang, hopping up.

"He eats pizza like twice a year, if that." Blaine informed Alec and Eric, surprised he didn't feel completely awkward to be alone in a room with two people he barely knew. "This is kind of a big deal."

"He eats rabbit food at school. It's ridiculous. How does he get any enjoyment out of life?" Alec wondered aloud.

"I've asked him that several times." Blaine sighed as Kurt came back in.

"Let's eat!"

…

"Tonight has been a good night." Kurt said late that night, wrapping his arms around Blaine from behind and stroking his bare stomach.

"Pizza and sex in the same night. I must have done something good in a past life." Blaine yawned, scooting back against him. "I'm too lazy to get dressed."

"Me too. It's a lot more work now." Kurt remarked, kissing the back of his shoulder.

"Do you feel bad about not going to Friday night dinners anymore?" Blaine whispered, turning his head back slightly.

Kurt raised up so they were looking at each other. "I don't feel bad. It's different, so it feels weird… but last semester we didn't get a lot of time together. I know we're both taking less and will be home more, but I just really want to spend more time with you. "

Blaine rolled over and faced him, goofily grinning.

"Stop." Kurt giggled, kissing him. "We're not going to live two hours away forever, you know? There has to be some point when the norm becomes us being at home, not going to our old home."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Blaine said, lacing their fingers together.

"You and Eric seemed to get along well. Apart from you insulting his choice of career." Kurt snorted. "Are you glad we have them over for dinner?"

"Yeah. Eric was nice… and Alec too, I guess." Blaine admitted, nodding.

"It kind of felt like we were real adults or something." Kurt said, resting his head on Blaine's chest. "Didn't it?"

"As opposed to fake adults?" Blaine giggled.

"Shut up." Kurt said, tickling his side. "You know what I mean. We're in college, inviting friends to eat in our house—which _is_ different from when Finn, Wes, and David just barge in and eat, so don't make that argument."

"Alright, I guess it was different." Blaine said, stroking Kurt's soft hair and looking down at him.

"You don't think it's bad of me not going to the dinners though, right?" Kurt asked, looking a bit worried.

"No." Blaine reassured him. "It's not like we're moving states away and never going back again. I mean, we'll see them as much as you want to, my love."

Kurt sat up and looked down at Blaine's body. "I don't understand how you eat so much as you still have the perfect body. It's not fair."

"I have the perfect body? _You_ have the perfect body. I'm short." Blaine protested, sitting up also and looking Kurt over hungrily. "You're legs and arms and skinny and muscle-y and… damn. Are you up for round three because I just gave myself a problem?"

"Is this going to be one of those nights that we just keep going at it?" Kurt questioned, a bit eagerly.

"It could be. Do you want it to be?" Blaine smirked.

"Well we better remember to set an alarm because I have to work at the garage tomorrow," Was all Kurt said before kissing Blaine passionately.


	37. Chapter 37

"Stop it, stop it, stop it! It's not ready to eat yet!" Kurt exclaimed, gently hitting Blaine with a wash cloth several weeks later. It was the end of November, two days before Thanksgiving, and Kurt was _trying_ to get all of his baking done early. _Trying_ because Blaine was making it quite impossible to finish, and he had only been home for less than two minutes. "Stop it, Blaine Anderson! Go! Go now!"

"But I've waited since Christmas!" Blaine whined, dropping his backpack onto the floor. "Not to mention the fact that I will be subjected to awkwardness in a few days. The least you could do is let me have some potato candy."

" _It's not ready_." Kurt repeated slowly.

"I'm not picky." Blaine said, grabbing a piece. He then frowned, whining, "Oh, it's all crumbly."

Kurt took it back, placing it onto a plate. "It has to harden, my child. Alright? It has to sit in the fridge for a few—."

"Minutes?" Blaine asked eagerly.

"Hours." Kurt finished.

"My life is so hard." Blaine moaned, sliding into a seat at the table.

"I knew better than to make this when you were home or awake." Kurt sighed teasingly, shaking his head. "You just can't handle it, Blaine."

"I can't." Blaine said very seriously, eyeing the candy. "Can I put it in the fridge? Please? Please, now?"

"I still need this to set the rest on! Go watch football. There's a game on." Kurt waved towards the living room.

"But Kurt, I really would rather stay in here and watch you make potato candy."

"That won't do. If you know how to make it, then you may leave me one day. This is really for the good of our relationship." Kurt waved his hand again. "Shoo fly, shoo!"

Blaine stuck out his lower lip. "Really?"

Kurt leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. "As adorable as you are, yes. The sooner you go, the sooner I can put it in the fridge, and the sooner you can have some. I knew I'd regret making it an entire day before we left."

"We want a lazy day tomorrow, free from school and stress." Blaine said slowly. "Say it with me, Kurt. _We want a lazy day tomorrow, free from school and stress_."

"Go to the living room." Kurt laughed. "Go find Oreo to play with. Or go tease Kreacher. Or call Carole! You haven't talked to her yet today and she had big news at work."

"Did you talk to her? Did she get that promotion?" Blaine asked eagerly.

"Yes, I talked to her two hours ago when I first got home and yes, she got the promotion." Kurt grinned happily. "She's very excited."

"That's so good!" Blaine said, looking positively thrilled.

"You'd think that _you_ got a promotion." Kurt laughed, reaching over and wiping powdered sugar on Blaine's nose.

"I dread working Black Friday at the bookstore." Blaine frowned. "I've only been working there less than a month. I don't think I'm ready."

"I'm dreading it too." Kurt, who had been working at Express on the weekends since school started, frowned also. "But we both have later shifts so we can drive to the mall together."

"It's so nice to work less than fifteen minutes away from my house for a change. We can have lunch together!"

"I don't know how much time there will be for lunches, sweetie." Kurt laughed. "It will be really crazy busy. We should probably take our lunches if you want to do that."

"Of course I want to have lunch with you."

"Good." Kurt let out a relieved sigh. "They're doing a pot luck thing and I really don't want to sit in the back room with them making small talk."

Blaine wiped the powdered sugar off of his nose and licked hid hand, ignoring Kurt's horrified facial expression. "I shall protect you from the tall gay guy who has a crush on you if you come in and buy that book for me. It's going to be half off and we don't get to do sale prices."

"I can manage that." Kurt smiled, ruffling his hair. "Now go so I can finish your candy."

" _My_ candy?"

"Yes. I'm making two batches and one is for you alone… and I'm sure you'll eat most of the second one too."

"I will!" Blaine said, grabbing Kurt's face and then kissing him quickly. "I love you."

"You love my holiday treats. I think it's why you stick around." Kurt teased. "But I love you too."

"Get treat-making!" Blaine said as he went into the living room.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Did you just start _dancing_ , Blaine?"

"No!" Blaine lied.

"Uh huh. I know you too well." Kurt said, taking the now full plate to the fridge and putting it up. He smirked when he saw another plate already ready to be eaten, pulling it out and calling, "Hey, what was that you said about loving me?"

"I was talking about my other boyfriend, sorry!" Blaine called.

"I'm starting to think I should worry since your other boyfriend is coming up more and more often." Kurt laughed, going into the living room with the plate. "Here. I lied. I got home more than two hours ago. This is ready for you."

"You complete me." Blaine said dramatically, grabbing the plate and shoving two pieces into his mouth. He then spoke, mouth full. "It's better than I remember."

"No, no, sweetie. We don't talk with our mouth full of food, okay?" Kurt cringed, patting his head. "Were you raised by animals?"

"Vicious ones." Blaine said cheerfully. "In the woods."

Kurt plopped on his lap and snuggled up when Blaine's arms wrapped around him. "You turned out fairly well considering."

"I like to think that too." Blaine teased, jumping a bit when there was a knock on the door.

"Blaine, I _told_ you that I was going to cook tonight. You're always ordering food." Kurt whined. "It's so expensive, Blaine."

"I didn't do it!"

"You cannot blame it on Wes again." Kurt sighed and moved off of his lap. "You get it."

"Every time the doorbell rings you say I order food, but I _don't_. I hope you have money for a tip if you ordered something." Blaine mumbled, getting up and walking to the door.

"I never order food. And, in my defense, the door has only rung twice and it hasn't been some food delivery person. Wes, David, and Finn just come in."

"I _didn't_ , Kurt! Honest!" Blaine said, opening the door. His hazel eyes widened in shock when he saw Kurt's aunt standing there, looking anxious. "Er… oh… uhm…"

"Hello. Is Kurt here?" she asked nervously, hands buried in her coat pockets.

Blaine moved out of the way quickly, holding the door open wider so she could walk in and pointing wordlessly at the couch.

"Aunt Paige." Kurt said, eyes widening also. "Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. To you too, Blaine, if that's okay. Although I don't expect you to even say yes after how I treated you the summer before last." Paige said, first looking at Kurt and then at Blaine.

"Uhm, sure…" Blaine shrugged a bit, thinking, _I knew I should have gone out with Wes for Buffalo Wild Wings before coming home_.

"You really are as nice as Mom and Dad say you are." She said, looking surprised but pleased. "Can we sit down?"

Kurt scooted over so Blaine could sit by him and Paige sat across from them, on their coffee table. Oreo padded up, rubbing against Paige's leg and purring.

"I guess I'll start with you first because it's going to be a lot easier that way." Paige said, leaning down to pet Oreo and then looking at Blaine. She took a deep breath and began to speak in a very seriously. "I should have apologized the summer before last for what I did to you because you didn't deserve any of it. You've never been anything but kind and courteous towards me and I was… an absolute bitch to you. It's even worse because you were just trying to get Kurt out of a bad situation… you were doing what any good boyfriend would do. I was drunk, angry, and bitchy. There's no point in even trying to cone up with an excuse because there _is_ no excuse. I hope that one day you'll forgive me because… that's not me, at least not normally. I'm very sorry for how I treated you, Blaine."

"It's… okay." Blaine said slowly, shocked that this woman was even in his house… let alone apologizing. He had known he would be seeing her in two days for Thanksgiving dinner and had been trying to mentally prepare himself for that. And now she was _here_. In his living room. Apologizing for something that had happened almost ago. Of course he was glad she was actually apologizing, but the entire thing had still caught him off guard and it was hard to process.

"No. It's not okay." She shook her head. "The way I treated you was completely unacceptable."

"Well I accept the apology." Blaine said, voice soft. "Thank you."

Paige nodded and gave him a small smile before turning her attention to Kurt. "Kurt… Kurt, I'm so sorry."

Kurt bit his lip, looking away from her. Clearly he wasn't as easily forgiving as Blaine, but then again the situation s were completely different.

"I know I disappointed you, Kurtsie." She said quietly.

"Don't call me that. I'm not five anymore." Kurt mumbled, unable to think of anything else to say.

"But you'll always be Kurtsie to me." She sighed a bit. "I don't know what to say to you to make it better, Kurt…"

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand and kissed his cheek before silently excusing himself.

"I guess there really isn't anything you can say to make it better because apparently it's all been a lie." Kurt said in a composed voice. "There's nothing to make better."

"That's not true, Kurt." She said, sounding upset.

"Then where have you been?"

She moved onto the couch where Blaine had been but did not look at him "I was afraid of how you would react."

"So you just didn't talk to me for two years?" Kurt challenged. "Just completely pretended I didn't exist when we were so 'close'?"

"I'm trying to apologize for not being here." Paige said, looking at him with pleading green eyes. "I'm sorry, Kurt."

"Taylor was there and she isn't even my biological aunt." Kurt said accusingly. "If anyone should have ignored me for two years, it's her."

"She is always going to be your favorite aunt!"

Kurt rolled his eyes and then glared at her, jaw locked.

"She always has been since you were little and she always will be. I can never compete with her." Paige said. "How do you think that was for me? To know that we would break up and that she'd still be the one you were close to? When you're my _family_?"

"I didn't have a favorite." Kurt snapped. "Not until you barged in drunk, yelling at my boyfriend, and trying to make me hate Dad. Not only that, but it took you _two years_ to apologize. Who would you rather call your favorite?"

Paige didn't say anything.

"I still don't have a favorite." Kurt snapped. "You just cut yourself out of my life but it's not like I hate you. I'm just angry. I don't think you treated me well."

"I'm not perfect, Kurt, but I'm trying to apologize now."

"I never asked you to be perfect. I just wanted you to be there." Kurt said, looking away.

"I am _so_ sorry, baby. I am." She said, grabbing his hand. "I'm trying to apologize for it. I know what I did was wrong… but do you have any idea how hard this entire thing has been on me? Ever since she and I broke up, _everybody_ has been so _angry_ at me. I'm not even the one that ended it! She is!"

"Of course everyone is upset. Taylor's family." Kurt said, still not looking at her. "But that's not even why I'm upset with you."

"Then why are you upset?" she asked. "Look at me and talk to me, Kurt."

"What she said is true, isn't it? You don't like me because you're jealous of me." Kurt said, voice quiet. He looked up at her, pleading with his eyes for her to tell him that it wasn't true.

"I love you very much, Kurt. I certainly don't hate you." She said, making eye contact with him. "I admit that I was jealous, but it's not at all like you are thinking. It's not like I've resented you or anything like that."

Kurt didn't say anything and she scooted closer, touching his face.

"I love you, okay? You're my only nephew. It's not like all of those trips to zoos and stores and festivals were fake, honey. I loved all the time we spent together… Maybe I wasn't there for you like I should have been because of my jealousy in certain situations and I'm very sorry for that. I really am. But don't sit here and write off our entire relationship and anything we've ever done together as fake."

"I don't have to do it. You did these past two years when you haven't talked to me. What was that if it wasn't you writing it off like it never happened?" Kurt questioned. He wanted to still be angry, but he could feel the anger ebbing. It was still there alright, but he was growing less angry and knew soon it would probably be all the way gone.

"That was me letting you down." Paige said, frowning. "I'm sorry. I miss you, Kurt. I've missed you this whole time but I've made such a huge mess of things. I know how much I hurt you, how much I pissed you off. I was so scared that you would completely reject me that I didn't realize I was already rejecting you. I'm so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you or make you think that I don't love you."

Kurt bit his lip, not knowing what to say.

"Because I love you very much." She said, her voice hitching as tears filled her eyes. "I really do. I-I'm so sorry, Kurt."

"Don't cry." Kurt said quietly, trying to decide whether it would be okay to hug her or _something_. He didn't want her to cry, and especially over _him_.

"I love you very much. I've _always_ loved you very much. You're my only nephew. I'm sorry that I let my jealousy get in the way at times because it got in the way of a stronger relationship between us… but maybe it's not too late, Kurt. I'd love to have with you what you have with your aunt Taylor. To be honest, I've always wanted to be that close to you but I didn't know _how_." Paige said, sniffling and wiping her eyes. She continued, voice shaky. "I would really like it if we could talk again, Kurt… If you can forgive me… I miss you."

"I miss you too." Kurt said quietly, letting her hand fall and wrapping his arms around her. "I've missed you since it happened."

"I am so glad to hear you say that." She said, letting out a relieved sigh.

"And I love you too, Aunt Paige." Kurt said, pulling back. "I know Taylor and I talked a lot more but she was never my favorite… I just thought we had a different _kind_ of relationship."

Paige nodded, wiping her eyes. "Are we okay?"

"Yeah." Kurt leaned forward, resting his head on her shoulder. "We're okay."

She smiled, looking much less anxious.. "We've got a lot of catching up to do. Tell me all about school and living on your own."

"School is great but it can be really time consuming. Last year I had a lot of trouble balancing my time and taking care of myself and things, but this semester has been a lot better… Blaine's helped a lot though. Sometimes he has to remind me to eat or sleep right before a big project is due, but it's a lot better." Kurt said, shrugging a bit.

"You've got to make sure you do take care of yourself." Paige said very seriously.

"Believe me, I've heard that a lot." Kurt laughed a bit and looked down at his nails. "But Blaine helps. He always helps… Living with him has been amazing. Sometimes it's hard because we don't see each other as often as we'd like and I guess I thought we would since we lived together… but it's still amazing all the same. It's just really nice to come home to him every night."

"You're so grown up now. It's almost scary." Paige said, watching him.

"I don't _feel_ grown up, though. Dad stills helps us out and Blaine's older brother does too. Blaine and I cover a lot of it. He works at the library on campus and in one of the mall bookstores. I work at the Express near it a few days a week when my course load is a little lighter."

"You're still in school so you'll need a little help with money to get by. There's nothing wrong with that." Paige reassured him. "Mom and Dad helped both Burt and I for a long time after we moved out."

"They did?"

"Of course. Burt was busy buying you too many baby toys and I was busy buying too many clothes." Paige laughed a bit. "It's what dads are for."

"I guess." Kurt shrugged a bit and bit his lip, wishing that the conversation was more comfortable and less awkward. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better but I've also been worse." She answered and sighed. "I feel better now that I apologized to you. I feel like I should apologize to Blaine again though. He's too sweet."

"He is very sweet." Kurt nodded and smiled a bit. "But when he's angry, you'd probably be surprised. He's tiny but he can get pretty… loud and not so sweet."

"I heard your dad got a taste of that." Paige laughed a bit. "If he's given Burt attitude, I think I like him for the sheer fact that he must have guts."

"Dad thinks he'd gotten a taste of it." Kurt snorted. "I don't even want to know what all Blaine's capable of. His legs are super strong. I try to stay five feet away when he's in a bad mood."

Paige laughed.

"I mean, he wouldn't kick me. But he likes to assault walls and refrigerators when he's mad. I don't want a refrigerator to fall on me." Kurt laughed too.

"I don't think I believe you."

"Looks can be misleading." Kurt shrugged, still smiling a bit and glancing in the direction of the kitchen where he knew Blaine was probably eating potato candy and texting David and Wes about how they couldn't have any. "I don't think he'll want another apology. He's like a little puppy. Give him five minutes and he'll warm back up to you."

"After how I treated him?"

"I'm telling you. He's a puppy." Kurt laughed again.

"Regardless, I still have a lot of apologizing to do." Paige sighed a bit. "And some serious reevaluating about my life."

"Maybe it's your mid life crisis?' Kurt suggested.

"You did not just say that to me!" She gasped and nudged him. "You never say that to a girl!"

"Oops." Kurt shrugged, clearly not that bothered by having offended her.

She rolled her eyes and then got serious again. "I'm going to try to apologize to your dad tomorrow. I don't know how he'll take it. You know how his temper is."

"I don't know how he'll take that either." Kurt said honestly. "Hopefully he'll take it well."

"Let's hope." She nodded in agreement and, after several seconds of silence, began to speak again. "I need to apologize to your aunt too."

Kurt glanced up.

"I heard she was moving to Florida soon or something." She looked down. "So I guess I'd better do that soon. She's probably changed her phone number."

"She's got the same number." Kurt said quietly, deciding _not_ to tell her that Taylor had decided to stay in New York. It wasn't his business to tell.

"Oh." Paige looked surprised. "Well, that's good I guess… maybe I'll call her later and see if she wants to meet."

"I think she'd appreciate an apology." Kurt nodded.

Paige squeezed his hand. "I better get to Mom and Dad's before they worry. I came to see you first because I didn't want to back out."

"Thank you for apologizing, Aunt Paige." Kurt stood up and, after she stood, hugged her tightly.

"I would say bye to Blaine but he might be a little scared of me… or hate me." She said, pulling back.

"There are only three people in the world he hates and you aren't one of them." Kurt reassured her as Blaine walked into the room, cooing to his kitten. "Look at him. If he hated you, he wouldn't look like such a goober."

Blaine looked up. "Huh?"

"Nothing, dear." Kurt laughed as Blaine came to a stop by them.

"Blaine, I'm really sorry… again. You seem like a good guy." Paige said, offering him a weak smile.

"I have no recollection of what you're even apologizing for." Blaine said smoothly as Oreo, who he was holding up, nuzzled his face.

"See? I told you." Kurt smiled and ruffled Blaine's hair. "He forgives easily. His body is too tiny to hold anger."

Blaine glared in his direction and made a, "Hmph!" noise as Oreo began to meow loudly in his defense… At least, he would have liked to have believed that was why his kitten was meowing. He would just ignore the fact that Oreo meowed loudly like that any time Kurt was near, because the kitten clearly loved him.

"I guess I'll see you two on Thursday then." Paige gave Kurt one last hug before leaving.

"That was sufficiently awkward." Kurt said, closing and locking the door behind her as Blaine sat down on the couch.

"At least she came to you and apologized." Blaine said, tickling Oreo's tummy and moving his fingers back quickly before she could trap them with her little paws. "That was nice of her to do and maybe it'll make things on Thursday less awkward… are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Kurt sat on the couch by Blaine and reached over, taking the kitten. "Oreo, I don't know if Kreacher's given you the lowdown yet but both of our families are _crazy_. You'll see on Thursday. Just remember that we two are sane at least and it should help you through Thanksgiving and all other holiday dinners which we will be forced to attend. Okay?"

Oreo blinked at him and stretched out her tiny body.

"Aw, she's not as fun. Kreacher at least responds." Kurt pouted as he gave Oreo back to Blaine, earning him several loud meows.

"That was very thoughtful, warning the kitten about how crazy our families are." Blaine teased. "I'm sure she will appreciate it more when she sees it firsthand. Even if I think you've sent her into a depression giving her up like that. My poor cat."

"Shut up." Kurt giggled and elbowed him. "I have to get started on dinner before you start telling Kreacher that _he_ is dinner again."

"They eat dogs in some countries." Blaine shrugged and smiled sweetly.

"You are the most horrible person on the face of the planet, Blaine Anderson." Kurt stood and shook his head.

"What can I say?" Blaine's smile grew and he shrugged one shoulder. "Those vicious animals that raised me must be to blame."

Kurt leaned down and kissed the top of his head. Oreo climbed off of Blaine's lap as Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist, nuzzling him. They stayed that way for several long moments before the heard growling and hissing coming from the kitchen.

"Kreacher, no!" Kurt yelped as they both ran to rescue their pets.

* * *

"Hi there, pretty girl." Kurt cooed, looking down as he reached the front door to his grandparent's house two days later. "Hi!"

Melody, who had her hands and face pressed to the screen, grinned. "Kurt! Kurt, Kurt, Kurt!"

"Hi, Mellie!" Kurt waved with the one hand that wasn't holding a plate of food.

"Melody, you need to move so the boys can come in." Carole laughed, gently taking one of Melody's hands off the door.

Melody looked up and her lip started to wobble as tears filled her eyes.

"Don't you want to give them a hug?" Carole cooed, moving her out of the way so Kurt could make his way in. Kurt did so, holding the door open with his free hand for Blaine. " _Look_! Is that Kurt and Blaine? Yeah?"

Melody giggled and bounced up and down.

"Let me take that." Carole said, taking the plate from Kurt so he could scoop Melody up.

"KURT!" Melody shrieked as he hugged her.

"You still remember how to say my naaame!" Kurt said excitedly, noisily kissing her cheek several times.

"We might have practiced it for a few hours." Carole laughed. "We still can't get _Blaine_. We can get Buh-yaine and Blay."

"Blaine wasn't as determined to have his name learned." Blaine laughed, setting their bag down and waving at Melody.

"BAY BAY!"

"Hello, pumpkin!" Blaine cooed, taking her from Kurt.

"Good, we were getting worried about you boys!" Kurt's grandfather said, coming out. "Luckily Melody is here to warn everybody of your presence."

"She loves us." Kurt said, hugging his grandpa. "Is Finn here?"

"Yes!" Carole said, beaming. "He rode with us."

"Uh oh. Between Blaine and Finn, there won't be food for anyone else." Kurt said to Melody, looking at her very seriously.

"Uh oh!" she waved at him.

"Uh oh is right." Kurt giggled, tickling her tummy. "Your dress is pretty!"

"Fankoo?" Melody said, and hid her face in Blaine's shoulder as everyone else started to clap.

"She's such a cutie." Blaine laughed, bouncing her a bit. "Aren't you? You're going to be a big talker just like Kurt."

"Sorry it took us so long to get here." Kurt laughed. "We slept in. By, like, three hours."

"Don't apologize!" Kurt's grandfather said, waving his hand. "I just got out of bed twenty minutes ago."

"It's the truth." Kurt's grandmother said, coming into the room and hugging Kurt.

"The house looks amazing, Grammy." Kurt said, hugging her back.

"It really does." Blaine added as Melody pet his loose curls.

"Look at those curls!" she exclaimed, pointing. "You have curly hair?"

"You caught me." Blaine laughed as Melody giggled. "I went two years without you knowing."

"I saw them last Thanksgiving." Kurt's grandfather shrugged. "If you woke up earlier, you would have too."

"Andrew, go in the kitchen and set the table. Someone should make sure Burt and Paige haven't killed each other anyway." Annie said, rolling her eyes impatiently. "He can sleep all day but if I sleep until ten in the morning, it's a crime."

"But it is." Andy protested, heading back into the kitchen.

"They're in the same room alone? They must have talked earlier." Kurt said, glancing towards the kitchen.

"Yes, they did." Carole nodded. "It went well."

"I do think Blaine's gotten taller." Annie said, going over and squeezing his arm.

"No. It's all an allusion because of his curls." Kurt said, making Blaine's face fall. He came closer, putting his hands on Blaine's cheeks. "I'm sorry, sweetie! You're just not going to get any taller!"

"It could happen!" Blaine argued as Melody giggled. "I could still get taller."

"But then you wouldn't be nearly as cute as you are now." Annie said.

"That's right. Then our level of cuteness won't be even, Blaine. I'll be cuter. I just can't be with someone who isn't at my level of cuteness." Kurt said, smiling sweetly.

"Oh, fine." Blaine huffed, passing Melody back to Kurt.

"There is nothing wrong with your height, hon." Carole said, hugging him. "Nothing at all. How does your leg feel?"

Blaine shrugged at sat on the couch by Kurt's grandmother. "It's fine. It doesn't bother me too much anymore."

"I bet you're glad to be driving again." Annie said, smiling at him.

"He was able to get a really nice new car." Carole said, sitting on his other side while Kurt sang and danced with Melody-or rather, sang to her while she shrieked in laughter.

"New cars are always nice." Annie said eagerly.

Blaine laughed a bit. "It's smaller than my old one so parking is so much easier... then again, after I had to drive Kurt's huge car that one day, anything feels small."

"I don't know how he drives that thing." Annie shook her head. "We tried to talk him into a sensible one but that was the one he wanted. Burt liked to spoil him."

"Burt's still getting in quite a bit of spoiling." Carole laughed. "I think he gave Kurt shopping money a few weeks ago."

"Did not! I've been doing much better about shopping now that I live with Blaine... because he won't let me shop." Kurt interrupted. "But if he feels like sending clothes money my way, I'll gladly accept it."

Blaine rolled his eyes and then looked around. "Where's Kreacher and Oreo?"

"I don't know. They came in when I did." Kurt shrugged. "They're probably-oh, Oreo's under the Christmas tree."

"I got a kitten." Blaine said excitedly, smiling. "After my car accident."

"We heard." Annie smiled at him. "Our neighbor is the one that sold Kurt the kitten. She's gotten bigger."

"It's because we feed her." Kurt cooed, coming over and giving Melody to Carole. "When do _we_ get to eat, Grammy?"

"No turkey." Burt said gruffly, coming in. "I messed the oven up. Sorry, kid."

Blaine's jaw dropped and he hit his knees, looking at Melody. "This is bad!"

"Bad!" Melody said, touching her knees. "Bad, Daddy!"

"Bad Daddy!" Blaine repeated. "Bad!"

"Bad Daddy!" Melody repeated. "Bad!"

"We get no food, pumpkin!" Blaine leaned over, tickling her belly. "We get no food so we'll have to just eat you!"

"Pumpkin is a food." Kurt said, nodding very seriously.

Melody shook her head and batted her balled fist in Blaine's direction.

"You don't want us to eat you?" Blaine asked.

Carole laughed. "Tell him 'No, Blaine!'"

"Bay Bay!" Melody cooed. "Bad Bay Bay!"

"Bad?" Blaine gasped. "I'm not Bad. Kurt's the bad one."

"No. Bay is bad!" Melody argued. "Bay and Finn!"

Kurt laughed loudly. "Tell him, Mellie. Tell him who is bad."

"Bay is bad." Melody nodded, looking solemn. "Bay is bad."

Blaine stuck his lower lip out. "Whatever can I do to win your love back?"

Melody looked at Carole who shrugged, and then she attempted to imitate her mother.

"There has to be _something_." Blaine pleaded.

"I bet they keep each other entertained." Annie laughed.

"Usually she teams up against Kurt." Burt chuckled. "Sounds like Kurt's been giving Melody lessons."

"I haven't. She just likes me extra today I guess." Kurt said, looking extremely pleased. "Blaine is bad!"

"Bay is bad." Melody repeated, nodding her little head and watching Blaine with big eyes.

"I might cry." Blaine said, frowning.

"Oh no." Carole laughed. "Blaine's got her now."

"No cry!" Melody said. "Bad Bay!"

"I'm going to crrrry!" Blaine said, making his voice higher and covering his face.

"No!" Melody squealed. "No!"

"Melody thinks I'm baaaad!" Blaine said behind his hands.

"Cheater!" Kurt exclaimed. "You are cheating, Blaine Anderson!"

"Good, good, good!" Melody chanted, eyes big. Otay! No cry!"

"He's evil." Kurt scoffed. "With all the harassing he does to Kreacher. You should be teaching him a lesson, Melody! You're too soft."

Blaine lowered his hands and kissed her cheek. "I won't eat you _this_ time. But on Christmas, you're mine."

Melody shook her head and buried her face in Carole's chest.

"My sweet baby." Carole laughed, snuggling Melody. "You just play right into their teasing, sweetie. You have to ignore them and then they get bored."

"You were joking about the turkey, right?" Kurt asked, looking up and eyeing Burt warily.

"Yes, Kurt." Burt nodded. "Mel, you want some mashed potatoes? You can be the taste tester."

"Oh, what a big girl job!" Annie gasped. "I don't know if she can handle it."

Melody reached her arms up. "Up, Daddy!"

"Okay." Burt said, scooping her up. "Better get 'em now before Finn and Blaine eat 'em all."

"Where's Finn?" Blaine asked curiously.

"Already tearing into the ham." Burt said.

Blaine's eyes widened. "It's done?"

"Most everything is." Annie nodded. "We're waiting on the turkey."

"C'mon." Burt chuckled, waving for Blaine to follow him. "You can get some."

Blaine eagerly got up, following Burt into the kitchen.

"He won't turn down food." Kurt laughed, watching him go and smiling.

Annie scooted closer to Kurt, wrapping her arms around him. "Oh, my baby. How is school going? Are we less stressed out?"

"Yes." Kurt nodded, snuggling up to her because you were never too old to snuggle up to your grandmother. "Everything is going really well, Grammy."

"They just grow up so fast." Annie said, hugging him tighter.

"Speaking of growing up, we're talking about what we want to do after CCAD and UK tomorrow or the day after." Kurt said, laughing a bit.

"My goodness, Kurt. Soon you're going to have an undergraduate degree." She said, her eyes widening. "What are you going to do after that, sweetie?"

"Parsons, right?" Carole asked. "That's the plan still?"

"I… don't know." Kurt admitted, shrugging. "I know I'm going to go to graduate school but I'm not sure where yet. I've been looking stuff up a lot when I'm not at work or school and I actually met with an admissions person at Kent the other day. It's really the only option I have for here in Ohio, but Blaine has got more options than me."

"Kent?" Carole asked, looking surprised. "Why don't you want to go to Parsons anymore?"

"I haven't completely ruled it out but Kent is so much closer to home." Kurt said. "The people at Kent were really nice. It's a slightly different type of program than the one at Parsons but it didn't sound bad…."

"Does Blaine know where he wants to go yet?" Carole asked.

"I was actually going to ask you that." Kurt admitted. "I know that he's got a long list of schools he can apply too and it's broken down into categories. The thing is, he has a lot more options that I do. Most of the schools I can go to are in New York and California."

"Well is that bad?" Annie asked.

"I think Blaine has had enough of big cities. His parents used to force him to travel a lot when he was younger... He likes smaller and quieter areas." Kurt said.

"Well do you know of any programs in an area like that, hon?" Carole asked.

"Just Kent. I'm still looking in hopes I missed something close to a law school. He graduates a whole year before me anyway, so I still have a lot of time to look and decide… If it comes down to it, I guess he can go to law school and I can go to grad school after he graduates or something."

"No, no, no. That is a very bad idea." Carole shook her head quickly. "If you take a break, you will not go back."

"Blaine took a break and he went back." Kurt shrugged and then sighed. "I know. Completely different situations."

"I think you've got quite a while to worry before you need to start thinking about it." Annie said, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "But I'm sure you all will be able to work whatever it is out. You two have done excellently so far on compromising and finding a middle ground."

"That's very true." Carole smiled. "But getting through school is very important, Kurt. Especially with a major like yours, you'll want to go to graduate school."

"I know, I know." Kurt nodded. "I'm definitely going to go. Besides, I think if I even mentioned taking a break that Dad would kill me. Too much money went into CCAD for me to make any decisions that include a break."

"Not to worry, though." His grandmother smiled. "Everything will work itself out. You boys will be okay."

Kurt looked up as Blaine came in, a small plate with a few pieces of ham on it. "Did you get some food, babe?"

"Only ham. It's excellent by the way." Blaine said, sitting on the floor by the couch and kissing Kurt's cheek.

"Thank you!" Annie said, smiling again. "I really like this boy, Kurt. You picked a good one!"

"I like him a bit too." Kurt laughed, reaching down and running his fingers through Blaine's curls.

"Well I don't like you." Blaine said, tone very serious. "You said I wouldn't get taller."

Kurt leaned over, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "It's not going to happen, babe. I'm sorry."

Blaine stuck his tongue out before putting a piece of ham into his mouth. "Will. So."

* * *

"No. We have to do it. We have to talk about the future."

"It's so far away." Blaine moaned, curling up on the couch. "And scary. Scary, scary future."

"I know, I know." Kurt grabbed his laptop and sat on the couch. "Sit up. We have to plan. Planning will lead to success."

"Quit reading the pamphlets they're giving you about looking for grad schools. They lie." Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position. "We'll just walk into a grad school one day, sit down, and it'll all fall into place."

"Yes. With us ending in jail or something." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Have you not looked into _anything_?"

"I mean, I've got lists of law schools and I've broken it down into ones I know I'll get into and the ones that I probably won't… but I'm only a junior. I don't have to start applying until April or May." Blaine shrugged. "I don't know why _you_ want to talk about it right this minute. You've still got two years left after this."

"Because _you_ don't and we need a plan." Kurt said, leaving no room for arguments. "It's going to take time and organization to get this right, Blaine, because let's be honest… it's going to be difficult to find places for both of us near each other. Our career paths are complete opposites."

"I don't understand why we have to talk about it five or six months before I need to _begin_ applying." Blaine said again.

"Because I know you, Blaine Anderson, and you're just avoiding it because you think you won't get into law school. You're trying to not get your hopes up or something." Kurt said simply. "Which is why I took the liberty of looking into things _for_ you."

Blaine blinked at him.

"I remember you talking about Capital but how you didn't think you'd get in. I have to say I disagree." Kurt said, pulling up their website. "The law program _is_ really good, Blaine, but so are you. And I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it even _reserves_ seats for UK pre law students. Your grades exceed their qualifications. I think if you were a political sciences minor you'd get in without a doubt, but I feel like you'll get in anyway."

"Okay… but… I realize that works great for one year because they're both in Columbus… But, Kurt… CCAD doesn't offer a graduate program." Blaine said slowly. "You need to be somewhere like New York."

"Or Kent." Kurt said.

"Kent? That is a law school, Kurt." Blaine arched his eyebrow.

"No. The university. For _me_." Kurt rolled his eyes. "It's in Kent, Ohio. The one I considered going to for musical theater before I chose fashion."

Blaine's eyes widened in recognition and then he shook his head. "No. You don't want to go to Kent."

"Why not?" Kurt said, looking at him. He didn't understand why Blaine was being so close-minded to all of his ideas. At least he was trying to come up with options for them. What was Blaine doing? Putting it off. That wouldn't get them anywhere. "Besides, I already went and talked to someone."

"You _what_?"

"I talked to someone about going for my graduate degree there." Kurt said. "We only talked for maybe for twenty minutes or something. It wasn't a big deal. I think it's the easiest and best solution."

"But you _don't want to go there_." Blaine argued, staring at him as if he'd grown three extra heads.

"The next two nearest schools are in Illinois and New York." Kurt said. "You've voiced your opinion on big cities several times and I don't feel comfortable asking you to go with me."

Blaine leaned back against the couch and bit his lip. This exact issue had popped into his mind the very second that Kurt announced he wanted to go to graduate school, but he had pushed it aside because it had been… well, before Kurt had even started at CCAD. Now, though, it was looking like it had come back to haunt him.

Kurt frowned. "Maybe I just shouldn't go for a graduate degree. What difference can it make anyway?" He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "This _sucks_."

"Hey, don't say that. We'll figure something out." Blaine said gently, leaning towards Kurt and kissing his shoulder before sitting up straight. "We'll figure something out, my love."

"You don't want to live in a big city, Blaine." Kurt said shortly. "And I don't want to make you."

"We can compromise…"

"Compromise? You dropped out for a semester to take care of me and now live in Ohio and travel to UK. Haven't you compromised enough?"

"And you went to CCAD instead of Parsons." Blaine said, trying to make Kurt see what was right in front of him. They had both made sacrifices and, in Blaine's opinion, their sacrifices were equal. There was no need for Kurt to be doing this. "See? Compromise wasn't all that bad, was it? I think you're jumping the gun by going and talking to Kent. You don't want to go there. You don't _belong_ there, Kurt. You belong in New York—the best school there is. Because _you're_ the best, you're going to be the best, and you deserve the best."

"I don't want _you_ to be unhappy. I don't want to make you live somewhere that I know you won't like. That's not fair to you and you've already done so much for the relationship. It's my turn."

"You've had your turn too, Kurt. You gave up Parsons." Blaine repeated, staring at Kurt. "I know how hard that was for you, okay? It isn't hard for me to pick up and just drive a few extra hours each day. Your compromise was much bigger but I thought it was an unspoken deal that if you did your undergrad here, you'd do your grad there."

Kurt shook his head. "My compromise wasn't any bigger than yours. I wanted to be with you. We both made the compromises for the same reason. They hold equal weight."

"Yes, Kurt. It was." Blaine spoke in a firm voice. "Go to Parsons. I'll follow you. I'm not letting you throw your dream away."

Kurt stood up and stared at him. "Stop."

"What?" Blaine asked, looking confused.

"Stop this. Stop always backing down for me, Blaine. What you want matters just as much as what I want." Kurt said, his own voice firm now too. "Do you not understand that? I want you to be happy and I'm not going to make you go to New York because then _you_ won't be happy. I can't be happy if I know you're stuck there and not happy, alright?"

"I want to be happy too but… Kurt, I want _both_ of us to be happy. You want to go to the school in Illinois instead? There are law schools there. New York? Great because NYU has a great law school too. California? As much as I hate that state, UCLA has a great program too and two or three years in a place I don't particularly enjoy would be better than making you go to a school where you won't meet your full potential which will have an impact on you for the rest of your life." Blaine responded, watching him.

Kurt was silent for a few seconds as he stared ahead, not even blinking. Finally he took a deep breath. "No. I should just… I should go to Kent. I know it's not the exact degree program I was looking for but it still has to do with Fashion Design and if we're being realistic, how far will I really get?"

"Kurt, please stop saying stuff like that." Blaine pleaded. "Look, if we… if we have to go away from each other to go to school… it would be fine."

"No." Kurt said instantly, shaking his head. "No, Blaine. Don't say that."

"Look, I really appreciate the fact that you went to Kent and got all of this stuff figured out but, Kurt… No. I can't let you do something like this. I would never forgive myself if you didn't go to New York or—or another one of the big ones you've mentioned before. Kent isn't the place for you to go."

"Stop it, Blaine. I want to do this."

"No. No you _don't_. You're not thinking rationally. Just listen to me. Law school and fashion design… it's going to be really difficult for us to find schools close to each other anyway, and I don't like the idea of you going to Kent." Blaine said gently.

"I'm not changing my mind. No." Kurt snapped. "No, Blaine."

Blaine sighed and tapped his feet anxiously on the ground. What was he supposed to say? If he'd felt badly when Kurt first started CCAD, how would he feel if Kurt did _this_?

"Where do _you_ want to go, Blaine?" Kurt asked after several seconds of silence, watching Blaine carefully.

"NYU sounds really good."

"No. That is not what I asked. Where do you _want_ to go?"

"I mean… my first choice would be Harvard obviously. I've been trying to talk myself into applying for a month now, but… I don't think I'd ever get in.

I took that semester off… Even if I caught up, I don't think they'll pay attention to that. They're just going to see a big gap." Blaine said, sighing a bit. Like he'd ever get into Harvard though. Sure, Wes had been trying to talk him into going with him for the better part of five weeks, but Blaine probably wasn't even going to apply. There was no need to tell Kurt that, though, because it just wasn't going to happen.

"Really?" Kurt asked, blinking at him in surprise.

"I'm not going to get into Harvard." Blaine said, laughing a bit. "I don't… I don't want to tell you where I want to go, Kurt, because it shouldn't affect where you choose to go."

"Where do you want to go?" Kurt asked again, sounding a bit impatient.

"Well there are tons of law schools that I could get into here in Ohio and one or two of them reserve spots for students from UK." Blaine admitted. "I planned to stay in Ohio. I haven't really looked into anything outside of the state _yet_. I don't know if I even will look out of state… But I don't want you to stay in Ohio because I want to, Kurt."

"Then I'm going to Kent." Kurt said, completely ignoring anything past _I planned to say in Ohio_.

"You told me to stop saying I'll follow you? You're doing the same thing." Blaine said, raising his voice in an attempt to catch Kurt's attention.

"I'm sorry." Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry I picked such a useless degree that pretty much ties me to four schools in the entire country."

"You're sorry for picking a useless degree?" Blaine echoed, laughing a bit. "Kurt, if I don't get into a law school I have an _English_ degree. And I absolutely refuse to teach. _My_ degree is useless. We know for a fact that you will get into _any_ graduate program that you apply to. Your grades are amazing, your designs are even more amazing, and people have already started to offer you internships for when you're ready to start taking them." Blaine laughed again. "Your degree will only be useless if you don't utilize it and, in my opinion, Kent isn't the best option for you if you want to completely utilize it."

"You're right. Maybe I should just not go to graduate school."

Blaine's eyes nearly popped out of his head. " _What_?"

" _Maybe I should just not go to graduate school_." Kurt repeated slowly.

"I won't let you do that." Blaine said, staring at him in shock. "Never. I will _never_ let you do that. You can't go to Kent and I won't let you not go to grad school. I'm sorry. I won't do it."

Kurt sighed. "Then I don't know what you expect us to do, Blaine. This is coming from you, the person who went on and on for weeks about how long distance relationships never work. You don't want me to go to Kent and you say you'll follow me wherever I go but that isn't fair to you."

"And you dropping out or going to a school that you don't want to is fair to you?" Blaine challenged. "I'll answer that for you. _No_."

"I can't believe this!" Kurt said, glaring at the fish aquarium simply because it was in the direction he was looking in. "I really can't!"

"Why are you so upset?" Blaine asked.

"Because we want different things and I was up all last night trying to come up with ways to merge those two things in a way that one person isn't basically giving up everything they want." Kurt moaned. "And I couldn't find one!"

"Kurt, is this because you're afraid I'll break up with you if I stay here and you go to Parsons for two years for grad school?" Blaine asked, his voice soft. "Because when I said that about long distance relationships… I didn't mean about _us_. We were fine when I went to UK, remember?"

"You were gone for a little over two months, Blaine." Kurt let out a hollow laugh. "Do you really think we would have stayed together if the attack hadn't happened and you hadn't moved up here to take care of me?"

"I'd like to think so." Blaine sighed. "But that point is mute anyway, Kurt. We're much closer than we were when I went off to college— both of us individually and as a couple. We've been through a lot and that speaks loads in my opinion."

"So are you saying you don't want to live with me for graduate and law school?" Kurt asked slowly.

"In an ideal world I would _love_ that." Blaine said quickly. "But I would much rather live apart from you than have you attend Kent just so I can go to Capital when there are tons of colleges that I can go to law school at."

"Well would you rather I go to Kent so you can go to Capital or I go to Parsons and have you go to a city that you've stated you don't want to live at on more than one occasion?" Kurt questioned.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" Blaine asked, watching him carefully.

"I would _love_ your honest opinion." Kurt nodded.

"Look, I can't _make_ you go somewhere other than Kent." Blaine held his hands up. "But I'm asking you to think about what I say carefully and let me finish, alright?"

Kurt eyed him warily. "Alright…"

"I don't want you to give up Parsons just to stay in Ohio when I go to law school. You don't want me to follow you to New York or California… It seems like the alternative is that we both go where we want to go that way nobody has to give up any part of their dream. We've both worked hard to get to this point, Kurt, and neither of us should have to compromise for something we've worked this hard for."

Kurt opened his mouth but then shut it quickly, watching him. He was supposed to wait until the end to speak.

"You have not worked yourself ragged to go to Kent for a degree that isn't _exactly_ what you want to do—ah, let me finish." Blaine said, holding his hand up again when Kurt opened his mouth. "You agreed to let me finish. And I'm older, so listen."

"I'm taller." Kurt grumbled.

"I'll ignore that." Blaine said, continuing. "You want to make stuff and sell it, Kurt. You have said yourself that it isn't even the program you wanted to be in. If you want to design stuff and _make it_ , you don't need to go to a college in Ohio. I'm sorry. You need to be in New York or California. We both know that you probably won't make it if you go to Kent. Name a well-known fashion designer who graduated from Kent."

"I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are many. It's in the top schools in America..." Kurt said.

"There aren't even that many schools in America for it… But that answers my question just fine." Blaine said. "You can't think of any and you're obsessed with fashion and designers. If you go to Kent, you are throwing away any shot of making it big. You swore you were going to get out of Ohio, Kurt. You _swore_. You are bigger than this place. I don't know how I would be able to sleep at night if you went to Kent because of me. That seals your fate right there."

"How was it any different from me going to CCAD?" Kurt asked.

"Because at CCAD you're still getting a degree in fashion design. You're learning to do what you want to do as a career and what you need to get into a good graduate school. If you go to Kent, you'll be settling. CCAD was the first step. Grad school is _it._ " Blaine said, voice rising a bit. "You'll be giving up your dream."

"Law school is your _dream_."

"And fashion design isn't yours?" Blaine challenged.

"No. I mean, yes… But I don't want to give up _us_."

"Your dream is more important than me. But even if we aren't living together, there can still be an us." Blaine lowered his voice. "You asked what I thought. I think you should plan to go to Parsons and I should plan to stay here or find another school. That is the only way for both of us to really have a chance at what we want, Kurt."

"I don't know who I am without you anymore. I… I want to be with you more than I want to be a fashion designer." Kurt admitted, looking at Blaine sadly.

"No. Don't say that." Blaine stood up.

"Why not?" Kurt demanded, looking annoyed. That was _not_ the reaction he had expected.

"Because that is—that is—." Blaine sputtered.

"What? Do you not feel the same way about me?" Kurt asked quietly.

"No! I mean, yes. I mean, Kurt, I do. But—But this is your _dream_ and I don't want you to give up your dream when it is so close. You're going to do this thing, Kurt. I can _feel_ it. I don't want to be the one that holds you back. Don't put that kind of pressure on me—on _us_. Don't make _us_ be the one thing that holds you back." Blaine said, struggling to get his words out properly and struggling even more to _think_ properly. What was going on? What had Kurt—Just— _What_?

"What if my dream has changed?"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this. Your father is going to kill me." Blaine said, beginning to pace. "Burt is going to pull out his flame thrower and just incinerate me the next time he sees my face. Oh my God."

"Why are you acting like I just told you I'm pregnant or something?" Kurt asked, sounding upset. "I'm just trying to say that I don't want to be apart. Do you _want_ to go away? Do you want us to be over? Did we move too fast?"

"Where is this even coming from?" Blaine yelped.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that I'm trying to find a way for us to physically _be_ together and you're telling me the best option is for me to move eleven hours away! I'm trying to take this relationship to the next level for you and it sounds a lot like you don't want there to be an us!" Kurt exclaimed, looking crushed.

"Of course I want there to be an _us!_ " Blaine exclaimed. How had they even gotten onto a 'level' discussion? What was wrong with their level now? Blaine liked their level. It was a very comfortable level.

"So you just don't want to take _us_ to the next level?" Kurt asked.

"Yes! I mean, no!" Blaine took several deep breaths and muttered, "Oh my God, oh my God. What in the world is _happening_?"

"Blaine, when you had your accident and I thought you were dead—when they—There is no doubt in my mind that it's you. You are, without a doubt, the person I want to marry and the person I want to have children with. I know we've… talked about it, but haven't _talked_ about it… but I guess this is me saying that… that this is what I want. I want us to get married one day, to buy our house with the red door, porch swing, whatever we want—I just want it to be me and you. I would much rather marry you than have a fashion design job. If I had to choose, I would choose you."

Blaine just gaped at him, unsure if he was even capable of breathing at this point.

"Clearly this has come as a big shock to you and I don't even expect you to say you want that too, and if you don't it's fine… But I…" Kurt took a deep breath and stood, wiping the palms of his hands on his pants. "I need you to know that _you_ are more important to me than school. I'm all in this, Blaine, and I met that woman at Kent for a reason. Because I am _all_ in this. When you grow up and you're with someone, sometimes you have to overlook things and prioritize. You… We are my first priority. I'm going to go to Kent and when you get into Capital, we'll find a house in the middle and we'll… we'll do this thing. If you want it. I hope you want it."

Blaine opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He just stared at Kurt, not even blinking. He didn't know what or how to feel. Not only had Kurt just admitted he wanted to have _children_ and _get married_ to Blaine, but he had also single handedly decided to give up the one dream that made him _Kurt_. Was Blaine happy that Kurt cared for him so much? Of course. But more than anything, he just felt an overwhelming amount of guilt.

How had this even happened?

How had Blaine let this happen?

And what was he going to do to change Kurt's mind?

* * *

"Wait, wait, wait. He said what exactly?" David asked, taking a bite of his pizza the next night. "Wes, stop throwing your straw wrapper pieces at me."

"He basically said that he was willing to give up going to grad school to follow me because I'm _more important to him_. And because one day he wants to marry me and get a house and have kids." Blaine moaned and then straightened up. " _Wesley, stop_!"

"Geeze, Blaine, why so testy?" Wes grinned and winked at a waitress.

"You are so repulsive." Blaine frowned down at his untouched slice of pizza. "Didn't you spend the last three days with some floozy at her house?"

"No." David said shortly. "She spent three days at our house."

"C'mon, she was _hot_." Wes argued, tossing what was left of his straw wrapper onto the table.

"Can we get back to the issue at hand?" David asked.

"Which would be what?" Wes asked. "Blaine's fear of commitment?"

"I do not have a fear of commitment." Blaine said, letting out a loud laugh.

Both Wes and David stared at him, expressions serious.

"What? I don't." Blaine chuckled. "Fear of commitment? I live with my boyfriend of almost three years and we've got a dog, fish, a cat, and a fishie cup."

"Yes, Blaine. I live with Wes and we have a gerbil. Does that make us in a committed relationship?"

"How often do you sleep in the same bed?" Blaine asked, giggling.

"Only once or twice." Wes chirped.

"I told you not to mention that." David hissed. "He just wouldn't _leave_."

"Ow! That was my bad leg!" Blaine yelped.

"I was aiming for the _idiot_ next to you. Sorry." David said, offering Blaine an apologetic smile.

"I'm sure glad I let you all kidnap me." Blaine sighed, looking down at his drink as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

"Fine." David sighed. "But I really don't understand where you're coming from at all."

"I wish you could have heard it. It completely threw me off." Blaine said, rubbing his sore shin. "He just kept saying that he would rather go to Kent because it was close to Capital. He kept saying I was more important than his dream, that maybe his dream had changed, and that he didn't know who he was without me. It was just… unsettling. Because New York is his dream, guys."

David cringed. "I hate when people pull that kind of crap."

"It wasn't even just that." Blaine glanced down at his phone to make sure he didn't have any missed calls or texts before continuing. "I don't even know where I want to go yet. I mean, yes, I'm _looking_ in Ohio but I didn't think anything was set in stone, you know? So how is he going to make up this life plan for us based on a decision I haven't even made yet?"

David nodded as Wes watched him intently.

"He just took it upon himself to do this and… and I'll probably go to Capital or something, but I don't… he didn't even really _ask_. Okay, maybe he sort of did. But the reason I haven't been _really_ looking yet is that I assumed…"

"What?"

"I assumed he was going to Parsons and that we wouldn't live together for those two years anyway." Blaine admitted. "When he brought it up, I felt like all I could do was just stare and nod, but what could I say? And I told him that he should go to New York and if it was that important to him, that I'd follow him—."

"You. Do. Not. Like. New. York." David said slowly. "Don't you dare follow Kurt out there, Anderson. Not until there is a ring on one of your fingers."

"He refused to even let me! Evidently it's Kurt Drops Out or Kurt Goes To A School He Hates. No middle, no compromise, no nothing!" Blaine exclaimed and tugged at his hair. "I feel trapped inside this tiny box without breathing holes. I'm only twenty and I feel like I don't even—like—I love him, I really do. And I don't want for him to give stuff up for me but I'm having a hard time stomaching the fact that he went and did all of this planning without even knowing where I want to go! What if I want to go somewhere else?"

"I think you two need to have a serious talk about all of this." David answered. "You can't just let him make all of these decisions. If he _really_ wants to be with you long term, it has to be a group effort. He's trying to put you under a lot of pressure and he doesn't seem like the type of person who would be okay with… just having a husband who does everything. Whether he's simply freaking out or he really thinks what he's doing is okay, you need to talk to him about it."

"This entire discussion is useless." Wes said simply, shrugging. "Blaine is going to end up at Harvard with me anyway, so I don't know why we're doing this. You want to go to a kick ass law school, Blaine? It's _important?_ You can't get any better than Harvard—yes, I know Yale is rated number one this year but that's just a technicality. I mean hell, if you do go to Harvard—which you will, Blaine— then Kurt can just go to New York and everyone win—hey, what's that look for?"

"You're right." Blaine said slowly, eyes wide. "You're right. I mean, I haven't applied anywhere yet but… but I really want to go to Harvard. I can at least try, right? I'll still apply to safety schools like Capital… but… but if I go to Harvard, it's in Massachusetts… _And Parsons is a four hour drive away_! Same as UK was from Lima! There would be no reason for him to stay in Ohio if _I'm_ not staying in Ohio. So I go to Harvard, he can go to Parsons, and we can still see each other! He won't have to give up his dream and I won't have to give up mine!"

"Okay, I think you need to distance _Kurt_ and _career_ for a few minutes, Blaine, because you're only twenty and have no intention of marrying Kurt within the next few years." David said gently.

"Okay." Blaine took a deep breath.

"If Kurt were not factored into this at all, would you still want to go to Harvard?" David asked.

"Of course. I'll be there." Wes interjected, earning himself a glare from David.

"Yes. If I could get in, _yes_. Can you imagine what a slap in my Dad's face that would be? He always said I would never get into law school." Blaine said. "If I got into Harvard, it would probably be the happiest day of my life."

"Then that's where you need to be." David said seriously. "I know you think they won't accept you, but I think they will. Harvard needs to be your top choice."

"Yes!" Wes cried, throwing his fist into the air. "Yes! This is going to be so _awesome_ , Blaine. I don't want to go to that small one horse town alone."

"It's _Boston_. It's not a one horse town. It's bigger than Westerville." David rolled his eyes.

Blaine took a bite of his pizza, sitting up a little straighter and feeling much happier. "So you think I could really get into Harvard?"

"Have you ever made a B in your life?" David laughed. "You're going to get in, dude. And I'd like a photocopy of the admissions letter. Mom can give it to your dad at church."

Blaine grinned. "Deal."

"I would still like to know who the best man is going to be." Wes chirped. "Because I'm 100% sure a wedding will happen eventually and, as such, I have a few reminders. First, I was the one who lobbied for your first solo."

"You are such a liar. You were the one I was up against." Blaine scoffed.

"Hmph… well, that one time last year I gave you the last chocolate chip cookie? Remember that?"

"I remember you holding it out and then shoving the whole thing in your mouth when I reached for it…"

"That was funny." David snorted. "Really funny."

"I let you snuggle me for like two weeks straight!" Wes exclaimed. "That has to be worth something, Blaine!"

Blaine slid down in his chair as nearby people glanced in their direction. "Oh my God, Wes, we are in public."

"I also—."

"I'm not getting married!" Blaine sputtered. "Stop it!"

David and Wes looked at each other before snickering.

"Neither of you are even going to be invited." Blaine snapped, standing up and then adding, "Not that I'm getting married anytime soon."

"I am so glad it's you and not us."

"Now I'm not saying I'm for any shotgun weddings or anything," David said. "But I do wonder how _we_ will take it when it comes up, Wes. If the sensitive gay one is freaking out about the prospect of marriage in the future, what will we do?"

"You say that like I'll ever get married." Wes snorted loudly. "Blaine is the only one that's even marriage material."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "You're going to get married eventually, Wes."

"Am not." Wes said stubbornly.

"Whatever." Blaine shrugged and took a bite of his pizza. "Hey, guys, remind me to get Kurt some cheesecake before we leave."

"What'd you do this time?" David asked curiously.

"Accidentally put his yellow sweater in the dryer." Blaine cringed, glancing down at his phone again. "I'm just waiting for the call when he finds out."

"He might not want to marry you when he finds out." Wes giggled immaturely.

"He wouldn't break up with Blaine over a sweater." David said.

"It was Alexander McQueen." Blaine cringed again.

"We'll set up the couch for you, Blaine."


	38. Chapter 38

"Let's talk." Blaine said several weeks later, plopping onto the couch by Kurt.

"Last final go well?" Kurt asked, reaching up and running his fingers through Blaine's hair.

"We can only hope." Blaine laughed a bit and turned, sitting Indian style and facing Kurt.

"What's up?" Kurt asked, lacing their fingers together. "You've got a very serious facial expression."

"This is pretty serious. Okay…" Blaine said slowly, looking him in the eyes. "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do." Kurt nodded, stomach knotting up. Had something happened? Blaine had seemed perfectly fine early that morning and earlier in the afternoon over the phone, so if something _had_ happened it had been very recently. "Is everything okay, Blaine?"

"Yes. Everything is fine… Alright, well… I'm sorry that I acted so freaked out a few weeks ago when we were talking about the future. Or that I haven't wanted to talk about it before now. But I'm ready to talk." Blaine bit his lip. "It's not that I don't want those things with you because I _really_ do. I wouldn't want to share that with anyone but you and I hope you know that… and I hope I didn't hurt your feelings or make you unsure of this because that's the last thing I would ever want."

"You didn't hurt my feelings. I was just a little shocked by how shocked _you_ were is all… and I do know you want those things. It's good to hear, though." Kurt nodded again.

"Look… The fact of the matter is that we don't know what will happen until I take my LSATs in February. The score could literally throw my entire existence into disarray and… I haven't been looking because I don't want to get excited for something that just isn't going to happen—I know what you're going to say, Kurt, but the truth is that neither of us _know_ how It will go. I may fail, have to take the test again a few more times, and have to begin law school late. I may do _really_ well and get to go right in, but we won't know until I get those scores."

"Okay." Kurt nodded. "But _I_ know that you'll pass it the first time. Either way, shouldn't you still be… thinking about it in depth? It's coming up pretty quickly."

" _I_ don't know what I want to do yet. I don't know where I want to go… That is why I'm not planning yet. But you kind of made this huge timeline of the next four of five years of our life. On your own. Without me." Blaine said. "I know you're just trying to be well prepared but I want to have input on situations that surround my life."

"But you said you wanted to go to Capital. I thought I was working around what you wanted." Kurt protested. "I was trying to do this for _you_ , Blaine. For you and for us, but mostly for you. I definitely wasn't trying to make you think that I was… taking control of your life or something, so I'm sorry if it came off that way… "

"I realize what you were doing." Blaine sighed. "But you can't build around me when I don't know where I want to go. And if I choose to go outside of Ohio, then you can't put your dreams on hold because then we could end up even worse off."

"You graduating is coming up really quickly and all that I can see is impending change… and lots of it. It's a little overwhelming. It's a lot overwhelming." Kurt admitted, voice soft. "I don't want to lose you."

"But if you don't go to a school that you want to go to then you won't be _you_ , Kurt. You even brought up _just_ not going to graduate school… And putting that kind of pressure on me is… I just… I don't want that pressure. I'm twenty years old. You want to get married some day and have kids. I want that too. I want to take care of you. I do. But… But not like that. Not with me being the sole provider. What makes you _Kurt_ is your ambition to go after what you want no matter what it takes. You can't honestly tell me you want to just stay at home and take care of kids for the rest of your life; fashion design is your passion. You also can't expect me to be the sole provider because that's… it's not fair. Not that I'm saying… I just… I don't know how to say what I'm trying to say."

"It puts a lot of pressure on you. I get it." Kurt looked down. "It puts more on you if things fall through too."

"Exactly." Blaine nodded, looking relieved.

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Kurt asked. "I'm so confused and I'm scared of making the wrong decision."

"We're twenty… I think… I think we're supposed to… Well, I'm supposed to go to law school and you're supposed to go to graduate school. We've got to put ourselves first and our relationship second, as… as horrible as that sounds." Blaine sighed, looking away. He didn't like to say that even though he knew it was true. They needed to put themselves first. He was willing to compromise on many things for Kurt, but Kurt giving up _his_ dream was not one of them.

"Are you asking me to not go to Kent?" Kurt said, touching Blaine's face and making him look up.

"What I am asking is that you do what you want and what is best for you." Blaine said, forcing himself to look into Kurt's eyes. "And that you let me do that for myself too… Even if what's best for us individually isn't what is ideal for us as a couple."

"I don't understand how I'm supposed to willingly go somewhere that takes me away from you." Kurt said. "I am terrified that we won't be able to handle it if we move apart."

"Do you trust me?" Blaine asked.

"Of course I do." Kurt bit his lip.

"I trust you too." Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek, squeezing his hands.

"You're not the only reason I want to go to Kent though." Kurt sighed. "My entire family is here. Yeah, I'll be closer to my aunts but… I mean, it would be two years at Parsons. That's two years of barely seeing my dad, Melody, Carole, Finn, my grandparents… you."

"But it's for _school_ , Kurt. And you said yourself that we weren't always going to live here, remember? When you talked about how we had to start doing things for us because soon we wouldn't just be an hour and a half away from them. When we were talking about Friday nights?" Blaine asked. "And what if us going after our dreams _whole heartedly_ is what is best for us a couple? What if it makes our relationship stronger?"

"Or what if it causes a break up and we end up hating each other for the rest of our lives?" Kurt challenged.

"If we can't handle two or three years not living together, then maybe we aren't supposed to be together. I don't know." Blaine sighed. "I wish we could just find a medium ground school for both of us but, Kurt, it's not going to happen. Not without one or both of us giving up on our dreams. You won't let me give up mine and I won't let you give up yours."

"Where are you going to apply?" Kurt asked, looking at him.

"I'm not sure yet." Blaine admitted, and he wasn't entirely lying. He did know he'd be applying to several schools… some in Ohio and some out. "I'll just start narrowing my list when I get my LSAT scores and I'll start applying to them as soon as I can for early admission. We'll… Well, I'll just have to see."

What he didn't mention was the fact that Harvard would be the only place he would be applying for Early Admissions, because it was a Harvard rule that you could _only_ apply there for Early Admissions. It wasn't necessary to say that because if he didn't get in… well, a few things. First, he didn't want to be pitied. Second, then Kurt might pull one over on him.

He could tell Kurt was still holding onto the Kent idea just by looking at him. Blaine, however, wasn't going to let that happen. Not without a fight. With luck, he would get into Harvard leaving Kurt free to go to Parsons. They would be four hours away from each other. A two hour drive if they met in the middle.

Would Kurt be mad? He'd be _furious_. But Blaine was not about to play any part in Kurt giving up his dream. Maybe part of the reason he wanted to look into Kent was because of Burt, Carole, Melody, and Finn… But Blaine Anderson wasn't stupid and he knew what the biggest reason was.

He remembered very well sitting in his dorm room at Dalton, Kurt across from him, looking down at applications and narrowing down which school he would go to. Three schools with soccer scholarships that he didn't really _want_ to go to, for any other reason than pleasing his family. And then the one application for a safety school, the University of Kentucky with it's small campus in a fairly small town. University of Kentucky, the one Blaine _really_ wanted to go to. It was Kurt who helped Blaine see that he didn't have to go to college to please his family; that it was for _him_. As far as Blaine was concerned, Kurt had stopped Blaine from making one of the worst mistakes of his life.

And Blaine was going to finally return the favor.

He just hoped— _prayed—_ that it didn't backfire.

* * *

"This is hopeless."

"It's not hopeless. Let me try."

"We've already both tried three times, Blaine. It is December 23rd, we are supposed to be half way to Lima, and it is literally _icing_ outside. We just need to accept that we're going to have to stay home for Christmas." Kurt sighed a bit.

"Aw, Kurt…" Blaine frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Kurt laughed a bit. "We tried yesterday and couldn't get out. There's nothing we can do. At least we'll be together."

Blaine gave Kurt a goofy smile, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "I'm glad we'll be together. Christmas wouldn't be the same without you."

"I love you." Kurt said, turning his head and pressing his lips to Blaine's. "So, so much."

"I love you too."

Kreacher let out a low whine from the back seat which was followed by several whimpers.

"I guess we should get the children out of the car and call Dad." Kurt laughed.

Blaine reached behind him and pushed the door open. "Dumb thing."

Kreacher tore from the car, running around and playing happily in the snow. Oreo, however, blinked at them from the back seat as if to say, "I'm not walking in that."

"C'mere." Blaine said, scooping his kitten up and getting out of the car. He and Kurt ran back to their apartment, quickly making their way in.

"It's so freaking cold out there." Kurt moaned closing the door and locking it behind them. "Alright, I'll call Dad and break it to him."

"I'll turn the heat back on." Blaine said, gently placing Oreo on the couch.

Kurt sat down on the couch and pulled out his phone as Oreo rubbed her face against his side, purring loudly.

"You're worse than Blaine when it comes to that." Kurt laughed as he waited for his dad to pick up.

"Worse than me? Huh?" Blaine asked, going over. "Oh. The nuzzling."

"Hey, Dad, it's me… Yeah, we've been trying to get out of the parking lot for ages… Both Blaine and I have tried; it's just too icy." Kurt said into the phone, leaning against Blaine as soon as he sat down. "We tried both cars… No, other people in the complex can't get out either. Well, one did but he hit a car on the way out."

Blaine looked around their living room as Kurt talked, arm going around his waist.

"We really wanted to come." Kurt continued, snuggling right up to Blaine's side where it was nice and warm. "No, we're within walking distance of a store. We can get food… No, don't try to come get us. It's too dangerous… Yes, we'll try tomorrow afternoon but it's still coming down and we're supposed to get more tonight too… No… I promise, we'll be fine. The power is still up and running and Blaine just turned the heat back on… Okay… Alright, I'll tell him… Okay, tell Carole and Melody that we say hello… Bye Dad, love you too." Kurt sighed a bit and put his phone on the coffee table.

"Was he upset?"

"He said it's more important for us to be safe, but I could tell he was a bit upset. I've never spent a Christmas away from home… well, my grandparent's home." Kurt said. "If we didn't stay the whole night, we'd at least go for dinner and to exchange more presents."

"I'm sorry." Blaine said, giving him a sad smile.

"Dad said to not eat all of the cookies and candy or he's taking your Christmas present back." Kurt laughed.

"Can't you tell me what I'm getting since I won't get it on Christmas day?" Blaine asked.

"That would ruin the surprise, my little elf." Kurt giggled and moved into a laying position, his head on Blaine's lap.

"Who said I wanted your head there, hmm?" Blaine scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You usually don't complain when my head is in such close proximity." Kurt said, making no move to sit up.

Blaine let out a fake sigh, shaking his head and running his fingers through Kurt's hair. "I'm sorry we can't get to Lima."

"It's okay." Kurt said, smiling. "We'll just have to walk down to the store if we need anything… which we probably do."

"Or we could…. Order food." Blaine suggested slowly.

"I suppose that _is_ the safer option if we can find anyone who delivers in the middle of an ice storm." Kurt nodded.

"And if it ever stops icing we can go out and make a snowman." Blaine grinned.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Carole's right. You're just a big kid… excuse me, little kid."

"Stop with the height jokes, Hummel!" Blaine exclaimed. "You make Christmas time horrible with those jokes!"

"You love them." Kurt teased. "Admit it. At least, you love the fact that I make them."

Blaine rolled his eyes this time. "Do not."

"Mhmm. You just keep telling yourself that, honey." Kurt smirked and sat up. Teasing Blaine about his height was almost as fun as playing with his curls. He was pretty sure Blaine's curly hair would never be topped.

"I'm not talking to you anymore." Blaine pouted.

"I can think of a way to make you talk." Kurt bent down, kissing Blaine's neck. It was a low blow considering Blaine's neck and stomach were his two sensitive spots, but it always got a lovely reaction.

Blaine gasped out, eyes involuntarily closing.

"What was that?" Kurt mumbled into his skin.

Blaine said nothing, only tilted his head to give more access.

"But what if I don't want to?" Kurt said, still smirking. "Hmm?"

"Kurt," Blaine gasped out. "Don't be an asshole."

Kurt laughed quietly and began kissing Blaine's neck again. "Is that what you wanted?"

"Shut up and stop talking." Blaine whined. "Just do— _that_ , oh God. How do you _do_ that?"

"Must be all the practice I get." Kurt said, beginning to suck gently.

"Oh my God, Kurt, we should… should stop before we get too… too…" Blaine trailed off as Kurt's hand slid up his leg. "Too late… we should get iced in more oft—." He gasped loudly as Kurt bit down. "Shutting up now."

"Mmh good. You talk entirely too much sometimes." Kurt grinned. "Bedroom?"

"I don't know if we'll make it to hallway before I pounce on you, but goals are nice and necessary to progression and… such…." Blaine gasped as he stood, unable to comprehend much of anything. "C'mon, c'mon."

"You are such a horny person, Blaine Anderson."

"I'll stop being horny when you stop looking the way you do. I said _c'mon_!"

…

"I cannot believe the pizza place is delivering in this!" Kurt said three hours later as Blaine carried three boxes of pizza into the kitchen. "Uhm… how hungry are you?"

"I figure that it's likely we won't be able to get more food until after Christmas." Blaine shrugged, placing the boxes on the counter. "In case the weather gets worse. _You should have seen the wheels on his truck, Kurt_. They were _huge_. _That_ is why they're delivering. He backed out like it was nothing."

"Well if we had a huge truck I could do that too." Kurt said somewhat haughtily.

"You could drive a huge truck, hmm? I don't believe it." Blaine opened a box of pepperoni pizza and pulled out a slice before biting into it.

"Well I can drive my dad's. I can't assume it would be _that_ different." Kurt shrugged.

"t'an." Blaine said, mouth full.

"Blaine, why do you insist on doing that?" Kurt sighed, grabbing a slice of cheese pizza.

Blaine just shrugged one shoulder and grinned. "Are you excited for your Christmas presents?"

"Should I be?" Kurt asked, arching his eyebrow.

"Yes. You're going to _love_ it." Blaine said confidently. "At least you better or I'll be heartbroken."

"I'm sure I'll love it then." Kurt said, nudging Blaine until he was sitting at the table and then sitting on his lap.

"You are slightly in the way of my pizza, dear." Blaine said, eyes bright.

"I somehow think you'll manage to eat still." Kurt laughed. "Or I could feed you?"

"I am a man, Kurt. I can feed myself." Blaine teased.

"You like when I feed you strawberries." Kurt pointed out.

"That's different." Blaine scoffed, sliding his arm at an angle so he could take a bite of his pizza. "That's sexy."

"You're so weird." Kurt laughed, taking a bite of his own piece. "So, how big is my present? What size package, I mean?"

"Small." Blaine said.

"So probably not a replacement sweater." Kurt said, nudging Blaine's side.

"Okay, I didn't mean to do it! Why was it in the laundry basket anyway? I didn't even see it until I pulled it _out_ of the dryer. I have _no idea_ how it got in there." Blaine said in a rushed and exasperated voice.

"I'm kidding, Blaine. I was going to sell it anyway. It's just fun to give you a hard time." Kurt grinned and kissed his cheek. "But I don't know how it got in there in all honesty… probably Kreacher or Oreo's doing."

" _I_ don't think that it's fun." Blaine scoffed. "And don't bring my kitten into it. If it's anyone, it'd your dog."

"First, of course _you_ wouldn't think it's fun. I'm teasing _you_. Second, _my_ dog that you bought for _me_. Therefore, you have no one to blame but you, yourself, and you." Kurt teased. "And thirdly, a small box?" Is it a key to your heart? _How cute_."

"Don't you think you've had that for a while?" Blaine teased right back. "Wouldn't you get pissed off if you opened your big present tomorrow morning and it was a _key_?"

"Well, it _would_ have sentimental value…" Kurt said thoughtfully as Blaine took another bite of his pizza.

"Then I guess I could have spent a lot less money." Blaine laughed.

"Like you don't have money to spent." Kurt laughed also. "I can't believe how much interest that inheritance has put into your savings account, Blaine. It almost makes me nervous that you bring the bank slips home. I'm half afraid someone will break in, take the slips, and get all of your money."

"I don't worry about it." Blaine shrugged.

"I know. You just worry about small stuff. Big stuff, however, you're just like 'ladedaaaa sunshine and flowers.' You and Brittany would have gotten along so well."

"So you've said a few times." Blaine finally finished his pizza and slid his arms around Kurt's thin waist. "What is _my_ present?"

"I thought you said you didn't want anything." Kurt mock gasped.

"That's why you basically had the bedroom door taped off with caution tape earlier, hmm?" Blaine asked. "I'm smarter than you think. My hair holds all of the knowledge, Kurt. All of it."

"So my theory was true." Kurt said, pushing down a curl that was threatening to escape it's gelled hold.

"If I had straight hair I wouldn't be so smart. It wouldn't trap everything, see? Wes and I worked out this long theory about it when we were fifteen."

"You would." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Everyone always says you were so much sweeter before they corrupted you and I think you're pretty sweet now. I wish I could have seen that."

"It would have given you cavities." Blaine winked and then kissed his cheek. "I'm really saving you from harm."

Kurt finished his own pizza and curled up in Blaine's lap, resting his head on Blaine's shoulder. "Sorry we won't have a Christmas dinner. I guess we should have headed out right after finals."

"I don't care about that." Blaine said, tugging Kurt even closer. "I'm just glad I get to be with you. You forget that I'm not used to big family oriented Christmases. Anything that doesn't involve my family is the most amazing experience in the world… and it might be nicer to just only be with you tomorrow… assuming the power doesn't go out."

"Don't jinx it!" Kurt shushed him quickly. "I don't know what we'd do without power. We wouldn't be able to warm our gourmet pizza."

Blaine laughed loudly. "It's Pizza Hut."

"Right. Gourmet." Kurt said, a very serious expression on his face. "It's not pizza hut. It's gourmet pizza. All that we had for meals were the stuff conveniently to make a _gourmet pizza_ and so that what he had to survive off of."

"Alright. I won't tell anyone you ate fast food three days in a row. The secret is safe with me." Blaine laughed again and did a lock and key motion. "We should go do something."

"We don't have anything to do." Kurt said, sliding off of Blaine's lap.

"Well we could go outside for a walk or, if no annoying kids are outside the complex, we could make a snow man." Blaine grinned, hopping up. "C'mon. Have you ever made a snow man?"

"Not since I was _seven_." Kurt said.

"Then we're doing it! I promise I won't throw snowballs at you _this_ time, but I can't make any promises for next time." Blaine said, holding his hand out. "Come on!"

"It's cold out there." Kurt protested, staring at Blaine as if he'd growth three heads.

"How many expensive hats, scarves, and gloves do you own?" Blaine asked, tugging Kurt towards their bedroom. "Pick your least favorite, put them on, get a jacket, and shush. I've got this, Kurt."

Kurt rolled his eyes, still not moving. "What do I get out of this?"

"You'll receive a happy boyfriend and two happy pets. Well, Oreo will probably stay inside, but I'm sure Kreacher will want to play in the snow." Blaine said cheerfully, tugging on his thickest pair of jeans over his sweat pants.

"You did _not_ just do that." Kurt gasped.

"I want to be warm." Blaine shrugged, pulling a warm sweater over his long sleeved t-shirt. "Don't judge me, Kurt. I can't believe you've never made a snow man."

"I did when I was little. I'm not deprived or anything." Kurt sighed,, pulling on some pants that wouldn't suffer from water damage and his least favorite sweater.

"Good boy." Blaine cooed as if he were talking to Kreacher.

"I hate you, Blaine Anderson." Kurt said, _mostly_ pretend scowling. "That is so demeaning."

"You know I didn't mean it that way." Blaine kissed his cheek and handed him his jacket.

After they were bundled up, Blaine scooped up a highly excited Kreacher (who seemed to _know_ he was getting to go outside to play) and ran out the door.

"What is he, five?" Kurt mumbled after him, going outside.

"Nobody else is out and the snow hasn't even been walked through much!" Blaine cheered, looking like a little kid.

"Because nobody else is insane enough to come out in this when it was just icing a while back. You're going to break your leg again." Kurt called, not having taken more than two steps out of the apartment.

"It's mostly snow in the yard." Blaine said, unceremoniously sliding and falling onto his butt.

"Oh, right. Mostly snow." Kurt laughed, going over. "Are you okay?"

"Nope." Blaine grunted, pulling Kurt down over him.

"BLAINE!" Kurt shrieked as he thudded onto Blaine.

Blaine beamed. "You were coming to save me."

"Yes, and you evidently want to pull me to my death." Kurt huffed.

"Mmmh well I'd be able to get rid of Kreacher." Blaine teased. "Besides, it wouldn't have been as romantic if there wasn't peril involved."

"I'm getting all wet." Kurt whined. "Blaine, let me up."

"Nope." Blaine said, wrapping his legs around Kurt's to keep him in place. "Hello."

"Hmph." Kurt responded, trying to wiggle free. It was no use though. Blaine was smaller but still much stronger than him. Not to mention his leg muscles were a bit ridiculous from all of the running and soccer.

"Uh uh. I don't think so." Blaine sang, pulling his head down until their lips met.

"Stop being cute." Kurt grunted after Blaine finally allowed him to pull away from their very cold kiss. "You're going to hurt your leg, Blaine."

"It's cute that you're _still_ worried about my leg. You're cute." Blaine said, slowly sitting up.

"The doctor said you have to —mmph!" Kurt was cut off as Blaine kissed him again. "Blaine, we—mmph, you can't do that out here."

"We're the only ones outside and plus, our neighbors think we're cute." Blaine grinned, but untangled his limbs from around Kurt.

"Don't you dare pull me back down." Kurt warned, slowly standing up and holding his hand out to help Blaine.

"I won't." Blaine promised, his eyes twinkling as he grabbed Kurt's hand.

Kurt moved to pull him up but his left foot slipped on ice, sending him and Blaine both tumbling back to the ground. "Blaine! This was a horrible idea!"

"I just wanted to build a snoooowman!" Blaine laughed, rolling off of Kurt. "I'm s-sorry!"

"Are you two okay?" Their next door neighbor called, poking her head out her window.

"Yes, Mrs. Baker!" Kurt called, flashing her a sweet smile and then hitting Blaine's arm.

"Be careful. It's slick out there." She said before closing her window.

"Yeah, Kurt. Be careful. It's slick." Blaine giggled.

"You think you're so funny. Now Mrs. Baker thinks we're insane." Kurt said, standing again and holding out his hand.

"No, no. If you pull me up the same thing will happen." Blaine said, standing up slowly on his own.

"Can we go inside or do you really want to risk our lives for Frosty the Snowman?" Kurt asked, watching Blaine. He was really going to be an amazing father one day. Their kids would love him.

"Let's try under the tree! It's more sheltered so it's probably not icy!"

"You were supposed to say, ' _Yes, we should go in_. Kurt mumbled as he followed Blaine to the corner of the apartment buildings where the tree was, trying to not imagine Blaine playing in the snow with their two future daughters. "There's not enough snow over here, babe."

Blaine let out a whine and hung his head, admitting defeat. "You're right."

"We'll just have to wait for the ice to thaw a bit. We can try tomorrow." Kurt said, surprised that he actually felt _bad_ that they couldn't make Blaine's snowman. What on Earth was this boy _doing_ to him?

"Yeah, I think it's supposed to warm up a bit in the afternoon." Blaine pouted some more. "Can I have a kiss for all my trouble?"

" _Your_ trouble?" Kurt echoed, wrapping his arms around Blaine's waist. "Who pulled me down? Who dragged me out here?"

"Your loving boyfriend." Blaine grinned, looking down at Kreacher pranced towards them, completely covered in snow. "Who is immensely disappointed that he couldn't build a snowman with the love of his life."

"You're such a charmer, Blaine Anderson." Kurt leaned forward, pressing his lips to Blaine's briefly before pulling away. "Let's go curl up on the couch and watch Christmas movies while we eat cupcakes and candy. I'll even let you hold the plate of candy and we can keep the cupcakes on the coffee table for easy access."

"We've got a lot to eat since we couldn't make it up to Lima." Blaine grinned. "That sounds like an excellent plan to me, Mr. Hummel."

"Somehow I thought you would approve." Kurt laughed and led Blaine back into their apartment complex, Kreacher prancing behind them.

* * *

"Mmmh Blaine, no. It's early." Kurt whined, rolling onto his stomach.

"I've missed having to wake you up like this. You always get up on your own during the school year." Blaine said, leaning over Kurt and kissing his cheek repeatedly. "Wake up. It's Christmas. I made breakfast and we're going to eat in bed."

"No food in the bedroom. Crumbs on our sheets are gross." Kurt mumbled, face buried in his pillow. "Take it away."

"No. Christmas is the day for exceptions." Blaine protested. "Which is why you should wake up. I made you _eggs_. You know you love my scrambled eggs."

"Eggs?" Kurt mumbled into the pillow.

" _Scrambled_ eggs. They're delicious, Kurt." Blaine said, kissing his cheek again. "Wake up, my love."

"But I was having a nice dream." Kurt said, sitting up. "About a shopping spree at the Mall of America. It was lovely."

"I'm sure you thought it was." Blaine laughed, grabbing a plate off of the nightstand and holding it out. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too." Kurt yawned, putting the plate on his lap and attempting to push down his messed up hair.

"I take pride in the fact that I'm one of the few people that get to see Kurt Hummel in bed hair." Blaine grinned.

"Is it that bad?" Kurt asked, taking a bite of his scrambled eggs.

"No. It's cute." Blaine said, handing him a glass of orange juice.

"Thanks. Is the ice gone?" Kurt asked, yawning. "I'm sure Dad will be calling to see if we can make it out."

"No, sorry." Blaine frowned a bit. "It actually got worse. When I let Kreacher out to go to the bathroom he…" Blaine trailed off, giggling. "Never mind."

"What?" Kurt asked sharply.

"Slid all the way down the walkway." Blaine giggled. "It was so funny, Kurt."

"You are so mean!" Kurt exclaimed.

"No! He was enjoying it! I had to _make_ him come in!" Blaine said quickly. "And Oreo just sat in the doorway with me, this look of annoyance on her face… I don't know if it was because Kreacher wasn't letting her snuggle anymore or because Kreacher was having an ice skating party."

"Probably a bit of both." Kurt said, eyeing him. "Are you sure you didn't just leave him out there because you're mean to him?"

"I promise. Go out into the living room when you're done eating and see. Oreo's camped under the Christmas tree playing with ornaments and Kreacher's at the door just waiting to go out again. Any time I walk through, he perks up and starts yipping." Blaine said very seriously, taking a bite of his own eggs and snuggling up to Kurt.

"Breakfast in bed would be easier if we had trays." Kurt said absentmindedly, reaching for his orange juice which he'd sat on the nightstand on his side of the bed.

"There's no point in that since you only let us eat in bed once a year." Blaine said. "Unless we're sick."

Kurt shrugged a bit before finishing his plate. "Presents time!"

Blaine quickly shoved the rest of his eggs into his mouth before standing. "After you, sir."

"Yay! Let's leave the dishes. We can get them later." Kurt said uncharacteristically, hopping up and going out into the living room. "Hurry up, Blaine!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Blaine followed his younger boyfriend, coming to a stop next to him. "I wish you'd been this enthusiastic for your breakfast. We would have had them all opened by now."

"Big ones or small ones first?" Kurt asked happily.

"Small."

"Okay because yours isn't under here. I wanted to make sure Oreo didn't destroy it… or pee on it. Which we really need to work on more. That litter box has a purpose." Kurt said, sitting on the ground by the tree and looking at the kitten. "Yes, I'm talking about you."

"She's so adorable." Blaine said cheerfully, sitting next to him as the kitten meowed loudly.

"Okay. Here. I got you this. It's a bit early, I know, but I figure you'll like it." Kurt eagerly handed Blaine a thin box. "This is… well, just open it."

Blaine opened the box curiously as Oreo crawled onto his lap, purring. "Aww, Kurt…"

"It's a book that's recommend for students going into law school. I just… I want you to know that I have faith in you. I know you're going to ace the LSATs in February. Do you ace them? What you do, you're going to do awesome. You've been studying in your spare time for ages already. You'll get into whatever school you decide to go to—of which I am not supposed to be worrying about…" Kurt trailed off but then picked right back up. "You're going to do amazing, you'll get in, and in the meantime you can read that book and be ahead of everyone else. I know maybe it's too soon but I saw it at the bookstore and… knew it'd help. Do you think it will help?" The question came out hesitant and hopeful.

"Yes." Blaine said instantly, smiling. "Yes, Kurt. It will help. I'm sure… Thank you. Even if I've still got three semesters of UK to go, I still love it."

"I figured you could start mentally preparing now." Kurt smiled back. "I'm glad you love it."

Blaine leaned over and kissed him briefly before pulling away. "So, this is actually your big one."

Kurt glanced down at a small box, eyes widening.

" _It's not an engagement ring_." Blaine said quickly to ward off any disappointment before Kurt had a chance to really assess the box. "But it's still special and I hope you'll like—love it. I hope you'll love it."

Kurt reached out for it, locking eyes with Blaine.

"Open it." Blaine urged, dropping the box into Kurt's hand somewhat nervously.

Kurt did so, eyes widening even more. "Blaine…"

"It's a promise ring. Kurt, I don't know where we'll end up in a year and a half… We'll be moving from this apartment, beginning new schools, working for real careers… It's untelling where we'll be." Blaine said quietly. "But _we_ will be constants. Even if we don't live together… whether it's a four hour drive or four hour flight. As long as you want me—us— then I'll be here. I'm not proposing marriage… _yet_. But _one day_ I will. Without a doubt. And this is a promise that my heart is yours and yours alone. Forever. As long as you want it… And I hope you want it forever."

Kurt stared at the ring, unable to completely register what was happening. It was such a turnaround from four weeks prior. Blaine was giving him a promise ring?

"You don't even have to wear it. I just…" Blaine leaned over, touching his face and making Kurt look up and into his eyes. Kurt's silence was making him even more nervous. What if Kurt didn't want a promise ring? What if he'd messed it all up and now Kurt didn't want a commitment? Then again, it was _Kurt_. "We're going to make it, Kurt. We're going to get through school, move out, become successful in our careers, get married, and have kids. We're going to have that life. I promise you. _I promise_."

"Blaine, oh my God…" Kurt finally whispered. "Ever since last month I've been sitting here convinced that all of this was stuff… you were just so shocked and… I thought maybe you didn't want it, at least yet."

"I know I want to be with you. Forever and ever." Blaine said. "I want that stuff eventually. I know it's going to happen. I was shocked when it came up in such a… abrupt way. But… you showed me what it's like to belong… and I don't think it's just this need for a family, Kurt, because I've been 'a part' of Wes and David's family for years… It's _you_. I love your family. That is an added bonus…"

"A very nice one." Kurt laughed a bit, still in awe. Was he dreaming? Maybe he was dreaming.

"Very nice… but it's you I want. We've been through so much and I… you're the one that I want."

"Why did Grease just pop into my head?" Kurt laughed, blue eyes bright.

"I should have knew that was coming. As soon as it was half out I saw it too, but I was already committed." Blaine giggled and then bit his lip. "Is this okay? Is this a good next level? Commitments to one day make a commitment?"

"O-Of course this is okay." Kurt whispered. "But are you sure, Blaine? You seemed very shocked last month and I don't want to rush into anything. I don't want you to feel pressured to do this and I don't want you to say it if you don't mean it."

"Kurt, I have always known it was you. I'm very sure." Blaine nodded. "I just want you to… to have this as a reminder that no matter what comes up when I graduate UK and you graduate CCAD… that everything will be okay."

"Thank you so much." Kurt said, looking at Blaine. "For choosing me… For being my best friend and for always being there for me without me even having to ask. You… You're a great person, Blaine."

"You are too, Kurt." Blaine said, looking right back at him. "You've always been there for me too. I'm really glad you're such a terribly spy."

Kurt laughed loudly and scooted closer to Blaine, lacing their fingers together while still holding the box containing his ring with his other hand.

"Thank _you_ for changing my life, Kurt." Blaine said. "And for making me happy… For showing me what love is like."

Kurt dropped the box, wrapping his arms around Blaine. "I love you so much."

"Don't make me cry, Hummel. I swear, if you do—."

"Shut up, Blaine." Kurt said, kissing him. "Just shut up and kiss me."

Blaine obliged, kissing Kurt slowly and meaningfully. This was how it was supposed to be. He was sure of it. No one else could ever make him feel this way. It was impossible.

"I can't believe you picked me." Kurt whispered after pulling away, forehead pressed against Blaine's.

"I could say the same thing." Blaine smiled warmly and reached between their legs to pick up the box. "Do you want to wear it?"

"I'm afraid I'll lose it." Kurt said, voice soft.

"You won't lose it." Blaine laughed a bit and pulled the ring out, sliding it onto Kurt's finger and then tracing his own finger around the ring, staring at it.

"It's beautiful." Kurt said, staring down at it also. "Thank you, Blaine."

Blaine leaned up and kissed his forehead. "You're welcome, my love."

Kurt smiled at him and then attacked him with a forceful hug. "I love you so much, honey."

"I love you too." Blaine grinned and pulled away. "Now where's _my_ bigpresent? Good luck topping this."

"I don't think I could ever top that." Kurt said very seriously. "Let me go and get it."

"I'll be waiting right here." Blaine said cheerfully, turning the velvet ring box over in his hand.

Kurt stood and walked to Blaine's bookshelf, pulling out a box from behind some books.

"That was _smart_!" Blaine gasped.

"I know you don't have time to read regular books. The bookstore in the mall has been working you a lot lately." Kurt said, smirking. "I told you that you wouldn't find it. I know you were looking everywhere."

"Including behind the fish tank." Blaine pointed out.

"Yeah, I don't know how you thought I could ever fit something back there." Kurt laughed. "But I caught you checking back there five times."

"I wanted to make sure that all of the bases were covered. Evidently I missed one." Blaine shrugged and reached for the box. "Give it, give it, it's mine and I want it."

"Say please." Kurt teased as he reached Blaine, holding it out of his reach.

"Kurt, may I _please_ have my gift that is mine?" Blaine asked, forcing himself to sound put out.

"Only because you asked so nicely." Kurt sat next to him on the couch and handed him the box. "It's not nearly as good as my present."

"Hush. I'm opening my big present. Don't spoil it with nonsense." Blaine shushed him, waving one hand in the air before ripping off the purple and gold wrapping paper. "I appreciate the colors. Very fancy."

"I thought you'd like them." Kurt snorted.

"Oh my God, Kurt." Blaine gasped. "You got me—and this is a… Holy. Fucking. Shit. Is this a _Tiffany's_ box? Where did—oh my God."

"It's a bracelet." Kurt said. "I wasn't sure if you'd like it but sometimes you wear those ones and I figured that you might like it. Do you? Because if you want to take it back, I won't be offended. I just wanted to get you something really nice, but if it's too—."

Blaine cut him off with a kiss and then a rushed, "Stop rambling. Of course I like it. I love it. I'll wear it."

"You don't have to wear it every day." Kurt said, smiling and feeling relieved.

"Maybe not every day but I'll definitely wear it a lot." Blaine said, staring at it. "This gift is amazing. I don't even want to know how much money we spent on presents put together."

"God, me neither." Kurt admitted, watching Blaine stare at his present in awe. Clearly he'd made the right choice. He smiled to himself, reaching up and ruffling Blaine's curls.

"You can say that again." Blaine said. "Thank you so much."

"Mmh, you're welcome." Kurt slid his arms around Blaine's waist and rested his chin on Blaine's shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine smiled. "You should probably call your dad at some point, you know?"

Kurt sighed a bit and nodded. "You're right. If I don't, he'll convince himself that our power went out and that we froze to death. I'll call as soon as we're done opening presents."

"There are still more!" Blaine said happily. "I love Christmas!"

…

"I'm glad you like your bracelet." Kurt said later that evening, after hanging up the phone. He had spent the entire last hour cleaning the kitchen while talking on the phone with everyone in his family. Well, both he and Blaine had been talking in the beginning but Blaine had left the room a little earlier to read one of the new books on his Nook. Evidently, however, Blaine hadn't gotten much reading done. "Melody said bye again, by the way."

"I love it." Blaine, who had been looking down at his new silver bracelet from Tiffany's, smiled. Truth be told, he was having a hard time not staring at it. "She's getting so big, Kurt. Does it ever make you want to just put a stopper on her?"

"No because the only way to do that would be to kill her." Kurt sat down on the couch only to be pulled into Blaine's lap. "This was a success, don't you think?"

"Hmm?" Blaine asked, tracing the ring that was on Kurt's finger.

"Our first holiday _alone_. I think it went really well. If Grammy wouldn't kill me, I'd suggest doing it again next year." Kurt smiled.

"This is what life will be like once we're in our house when we are older and set in our careers. By our house I mean the one that we have _built_ that is made just for us." Blaine said, still tracing the ring.

"Oh, so now we're having it built for us? I like that. We can both have our own walk in closets. Preferably exactly like the one in your old bedroom. That was the best closet I have ever seen." Kurt said, wiggling his fingers.

Blaine grasped them tightly, squeezing his hand. "We can have whatever kind of closet you want. And you can have an at home office to sketch in and I can have an office for paperwork."

"Oh?" Kurt asked.

"And the kids can have their own rooms and then we'll have a toy room."

"How big are you planning on this house being exactly?" Kurt laughed.

"Master bedroom, two bedrooms for our kids, a toy room, two offices. Obviously you'll want your own bathroom since my 'hair gel containers take up so much space.' I'm thinking it's going to be pretty big."

"And a big back yard for Kreacher."

Blaine sighed. "You mean you want to _keep_ him? Can't we pawn him off on some unsuspecting person who thinks he's actually cute?"

"You bought me that dog and I love him." Kurt said slowly and stubbornly. "We are never getting rid of him, Blaine. He is staying with us until he… you know."

Blaine kissed Kurt's ear. "Fine. I guess I can't complain seeing as it was my idea to get the dumb thing anyway."

"You can't." Kurt agreed, glancing over at Kreacher who was busy chewing on a bone. "Besides, you love him. You were freaking out last week when he hurt his paw and couldn't move without whimpering."

"I dispute that claim." Blaine scoffed. "I was merely afraid you would blame me."

"You were the one who stepped on his foot…"

"I didn't mean to, okay?" Blaine whined, eyes widening. "I didn't see him down there. He always sleeps on the foot of the bed, never on the floor. I didn't want to hurt him!"

"You love him." Kurt smirked. "You love him as much as you love your fishes and your kitten, if not _more_."

Blaine mumbled incoherently.

"Did you just admit you liked Kreacher?" Kurt asked, his own eyes widening this time.

"I said nothing of the sort." Blaine said, not making eye contact.

"You did!" Kurt gasped.

"Hey, do you know what else that ring is a promise for?" Blaine asked impishly, moving Kurt off of his lap and standing.

"What?" Kurt asked, eyebrow arching.

Blaine held out both of his arms. "Lots and lots and _lots_ of sex."

"Starting now?" Kurt asked eagerly, allowing Blaine to pull him up.

"Starting now."

**END.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sequel to this story is currently in progress and is titled Long Time Coming.   
> Thank you to everyone for reading!


End file.
